


Che sia fatta Pace - English Version

by YellowAndBlue



Category: Eurovision Song Contest RPF, Festival di Sanremo RPF, Italian music RPF, metamoro - Fandom
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Smut, alternative universe, alternative universe - Fabrizio!ispettore di polizia/ Ermal!medico legale, criminal!au, mutiple chapters, mutiple pairings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2019-12-29 23:51:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 27,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18304055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YellowAndBlue/pseuds/YellowAndBlue
Summary: "Good morning, you must be Doctor Meta. It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm inspector Mobrici." the man said, throwing the cigarette on the ground before shaking his hand.Ermal noticed some rings decorating the man's hand.He was not married.The inspector earned a very interested look form the doctor, before receiving an answer."Please inspector, if you want to work with me on the crime scene wear all that is necessary not to taint the evidence.""I'm sorry, what?""Wear a mask, a jumpsuit, and shoe covers. Thank you." The doctor answered without even looking him in the eyes, while he started wearing a pair of latex gloves.Fabrizio stood there, confused for a couple of seconds by the coldness of that statement."Geez, what a  jerk." the inspector said while one of his subordinates helped him into the white forensic jumpsuit.English version by booksmakemelive on Tumblrhttps://booksmakemelive.tumblr.com/(Larry1618 on AO3)





	1. Il Paradiso è pieno di bambini

**Author's Note:**

> Any resemblance to real events and/or to real people, living or dead, is purely coincidental. We don't own the characters (at least not all of them) and all the events that take place in the chapters are a figment of our imagination.

 

Nausea clenched his throat once again, luckily he only drank coffee that morning. He took that little courage he had left and once again stepped forward towards the white sheet that was sprawled on the boulevard of that small suburban park. Another dead body, another murder to solve, but this time everything was different: under that sheet, there was a little girl, her body so small as to disappear under those white colts. Her body had been found by a passer-by who was jogging a couple of hours before and now it was lying there, lifeless, surrounded by agents of the crime lab who were collecting all the proofs needed. His head spun again and he almost fell on the ground out of frustration. That baby girl could have been his baby girl and that destabilized him very much.

He started looking somewhere else, observing the small park situated in the eastern part of Rome. It was a bit after eight o'clock during that grey morning of October and the heavy clouds, which hid the shy sunlight, made the grass and the trees that surrounded him the silent audience of that macabre show.

It felt like every surrounding tree, flower or bush was paying homage to that little soul flown to heaven.

 **"Is everything alright, inspector Mobrici?"** The worried voice of officer Berti made him come back to reality and recover the lost professionalism.

Taking a second look at the officer standing in front of him, so stiff and static in his uniform, he realized how much he missed Niccolò. That pain in the ass was busy with another crime scene across the city. He then felt blessed Lucio Berti, the human robot, was there, always prepared and informed about everything. Even though he had a hard time admitting it, he really loved that boy and struggled to treat him only professionally.

**"Yes, thank you. Tell me everything you know about... her."**

**"Her name was Mara Fabi and she was three. She disappeared two days ago while she was playing at the park with her grandmother. They reported her disappearance the same night."**

He was really going to throw up, she was even younger than he thought.

**"What about her parents?"**

**"Her father's name is Giuseppe Fabi, a very well known lawyer here in Rome while her mother's name is Kera, she's a housewife and comes from Senegal."**

**"That's worse than I imagined. Lawyers usually have lots of enemies, especially if they're famous and envied ones. I need a list of all the opponents he won important or delicate trials against. Also, we should call him in as soon as possible."**

He was ready to ask for more information about the rest of the family when the coroner approached him with a worried look on his face. **"Mobrici,"** he muttered anxiously. **"I need to show you something very important."** and with that being said he escorted him to the small body before lifting the sheet up.

Cold shivers went across his spine when he saw the little girl, but he tried to remain clear-headed and not lose focus.

With a pair of tweezers, the coroner lifted the little girl's pink t-shirt and said seriously. **"Look at that…"**

There, between the shoulder blades, in the middle of the baby girl's back, there was a black spot. Coming a little closer he realized, with horror, that it was not a simple birthmark, but it was an actual symbol. It was burned into that poor soul's skin. The symbol looked like a two-arm scale.

He still doesn't understand how he called to himself the officer who was in charge of pictures. He just whispered **"Please send all the results to my office as soon as possible."** before stumbling away.

Behind a tree, as far as possible, he threw up everything he had eaten in the last couple of days.

**

He was tired like he'd never been before and it was just ten in the morning. He stared at the yellow envelope on his desk, filled with all the pictures taken on the crime scene, with a disgusted look. Without fail, his look landed on a small frame not very far, put behind a pile of messy paperwork. The frame held a picture of his children who were smiling happily and that filled his head and heart with mixed emotions. There was joy and peace only they could give him and visceral concern. The latter kept telling him to call Giada and ask her if they were with her if they were alright if no insane man had kidnapped and brutally murdered them. The most irrational side of his mind replaced with dreadful prowess the face of little Mara with his little Anita's. Luckily a couple of loud bangs on his door made all those baleful thoughts go away.

**"May I come in, inspector?"**

**"Of course, Niccolò, come on in."**

A guy in his twenties came in with a pile of paperwork in his hands. His name was Niccolò Moriconi and he was a fledgling agent yet very promising, he had just got out of the academy and in his eyes, there still was so much hope towards the future.

They had bonded since the day they were introduced to each other because they came from the same rough neighborhood of Rome and also because the older man instantly welcomed him under his wing and taught him all the tricks of the trade.

Fabrizio treated him like a son and knew very well he would have gone very far.

 **"Niccolò, how many times do I have to tell you? You must take off your sunglasses when you are at the police station.."** Okay, sometimes he liked to ignore the rules, but he was still young and they couldn't ask too much of him.

**"Yes, sorry Fabbrì. I'll take them off."**

**"Niccolò.."**

**"Inspector. Sorry, I'll take them off immediately... inspector."**

**"Very good. Remember, outside this office, you can also call me daddy, but in here I'm the inspector, okay?"**

**"It happened only once! How do I have to tell you I didn't do that on purpose?!"**

The boy removed his dark sunglasses, showing a pair of -not so elegant- bags under his eyes, and put them inside his pocket. Fabrizio raised an eyebrow but preferred to stay quiet about it.

**"Whatever. By the way, why are you here?"**

**"The medical report of the little girl is ready."** With that being said he handed the inspector the files of the case.

In all those paperwork, something slipped and fell on Fabrizio's desk.

**"What's this?"**

The man found a white envelope between his hands, it didn't say who the sender was nor the addressee. He didn't pay much attention to who it was addressed to though, because he was way too busy observing the seal that closed the envelope. On the red wax there was a symbol and, in a feverish way, he grabbed his glasses. He almost fell off his chair when he moved the envelope closer to his eyes and saw what was engraved on it.

A two-arm scale with the left plate lower than the other. He had already seen that symbol not so long ago. He opened the yellow envelope which had been abandoned on his desk until that moment, something that cost him a lot of effort, and went rapidly through all the pictures until he found what he was looking for: the symbol the little girl had burned on her back was identical.

His head started spinning again while another question echoed in his ears: he had already seen that symbol, but where?

He stood up, he needed the opinion of an expert and most of all it had to be tangible because he knew that if he wanted to do that on his own his head might explode. He also needed to know where that letter came from and who was its mysterious addressee.

He crossed the hallway and he was almost running with Niccolò following behind him, confused and unaware of what was tormenting the inspector. He reached the Commissioner's office.

So much was the heat he didn't even knock on the door and, only after he came in and slammed the door on the poor officer's face, he realized what he'd done and muttered: **"I'm so sorry, Commissioner, but there's a matter of extreme urgency I'd like to talk to you about."**

Commissioner Domenicone was a man who looked like anything but an officer of such high rank. He had chubby, ruddy cheeks and slightly drooping light eyes. He always smiled and his voice was so gentle and calm, never once had Fabrizio heard him raise his voice or let anger take control over him.

He owed much to that man. He'd met him during his troubled youth, at that time the commissioner was a head inspector, and he'd immediately seen his potential. He'd helped him enrolling the academy and then becoming an inspector by always being by his side to support him, obviously never favoring him over others.

He could easily consider him a second father, as well as his ex-father-in-law.

 **"Fabrizio, what's going on? Sit down and calm down a little, you look like you've seen a ghost."** More often than not he liked to not take things seriously.

 **"This letter came this morning. Look at the symbol, it's the same they found on the little girl's body, Mara Fabi."** After he said those words he handed him both the letter and the picture.

The relaxed expression on the man's face immediately turned into a mask of seriousness, which had always scared the inspector, and started analyzing the two symbols with extreme precision.

Fabrizio found himself looking at one of the pictures Domenicone had on his desk, the one that portrayed three people: Giada, the commissioner's daughter, and his two other children. He remembered that picture vividly, he was the one who took it. The nostalgia of those days now gone came back knocking at his heart, but he rapidly kicked it away. Giada and he had loved each other very much for a long time, but then their love burned out and became what it's possible to define as true friendship and not passion. Breaking up had been really hard, but eventually, time helped to heal their wounds and they came back to each other not as lovers but at least as friends. He didn't regret anything about that love story and he never would have, he loved Giada and would have given his life for her without thinking twice about it. There were still old resentments to sort out, though, but he knew they'd make it.

 **"Fabrizio"** the firm voice of the commissioner brought him back to reality. **"could you please look for those murders that happened a few years ago in Puglia? 2009 circa."**

Moro had got used to his extraordinary ability to remember even the tiniest detail about basically everything, but he was always very impressed.

Without saying a word he followed the instructions the commissioner gave him and went on the computer. After very quick research, he found what he was looking for.

The case was a pretty famous one, journalists made a lot of fuss about it back then; a murderer that killed eight people in the weirdest and macabre way possible, branding every victim with a symbol.

The scale of justice.

Luckily he was arrested and remained in jail until the end of his days. Fabrizio read everything there was on the file with unsteady voice and the commissioner, who was very much lost in his own thoughts, asked: **"Who found out about the murderer? Who arrested him?"**

**"They say it was all thanks to a forensic medicine resident's dissertation, he was the assistant to the coroner and was in charge of the autopsies. The papers said that without his discovery they would have never found him... weird thing if you ask me..."**

**"What was the name of the boy?"** Domenicone's voice was excited yet anxious as if all he was hearing was new to him.

**"Ermal Meta... peculiar name, is he a foreigner?"**

**"Fabbrì, read this."** At that moment he was really going to blow up.

He moved his glance towards the letter and his heart skipped a beat. On it, there was the name of the addressee.

**_To: Doctor Ermal Meta_ **

**"I must call the Commissioner in Bari, right now."**


	2. Che la discesa agli inferi abbia inizio

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any resemblance to real events and/or to real people, living or dead, is purely coincidental. We don't own the characters (at least not all of them) and all the events that take place in the chapters are a figment of our imagination.

The incessant sound of the alarm woke him up. His glance immediately landed on the sky blue ceiling of his old room and on the golden chandelier, hanging from it there was one of his mum's many dream catchers. With a fluid movement of the arm, the man managed to turn the infernal device he had on the nightstand off. It took him a lot of effort to sit up, he rubbed his eyes and scratched the back of his neck while he was still half asleep. One day he would have been able to explain to himself, but mainly to his mum, why he had the alarm set on sunrise even if he was on holiday. 

Lost in his own thoughts, he went to the bathroom. The white neon light blinded him for a few seconds and it took him a while before he could get used to the change of light. He moved closer to the mirror, which reflected the poor image of himself.

His bushy chestnut curly hair, which fell lazily on his face, made his complexion even paler than it already was. His Adam apple stuck out more than it usually did and the dark bags under his eyes completed the sad painting called: Ermal Meta.

 **"Good morning, big bro."** Sabrina's voice burst into the small bathroom, making him feel a little more serene.

 **"It's always a good morning when I see you, sis."** muttered Ermal, softly kissing her on the temple.

The girl gave him a worried look while she ruffled his hair, standing on the tip of her toes.

**"Did you sleep at all last night?"**

**"I think I've slept for a couple of hours."** said the chestnut-haired lad, earning another worried look from his sister.

He couldn't help it. He thought that leaving his apartment in Milan and taking a couple of days off in Bari would have been the perfect remedy to cure his broken heart. Sadly the images of those years kept coming back to harass him every single night. Silvia and he had broken up four months ago after nine long years of love. It hadn't been something sudden and unexpected, but it hurt anyway. Their relationship had slowly faded because of their working commitments and because the love that connected them was not as strong as it used to be. Ermal realized by the little gestures they didn't gift each other with, by every fight they had over the most stupid reasons and most of all by the silence that followed after. They got to the point where they didn't sleep together anymore. Then, during a hot morning in June, Silvia packed her stuff and left. Her whole life and those nine years they had spent together packed into seven leather bags.

He suddenly was left alone in that apartment, too big for one person. Every corner of that home reminded him of every moment they spent together. He thought he was going crazy in there, so he packed all he needed and took the first train to Bari, running away from all those painful memories. He thought he would have been able to find peace and quiet in his mum's house, but the image of a happy Silvia kept haunting him at night.

He came back to reality and realized that his sister had left him alone, preferring breakfast to his mental lucubrations. He sighed and, smelling the aroma of coffee coming from downstairs,  realized that it was time to stop feeling melancholy and get downstairs, where they were waiting for him.

When he entered the small dining room he smiled, noticing his mum going back and forth, humming a song.

 **"Good morning, gëzim i parë *."** the lady said in a sweet tone, pouring coffee into his mug before kissing him on the cheek. They both stayed in that position for a couple of seconds: he was sat at the oval kitchen table sipping his first coffee of the day and the woman tangled her sweet hands into his bushy and soft curly hair. She used to do that when he was just a kid and they used to live in his motherland, Albania. Years, though, had passed and instead of that little slender kid, who used to drink fresh milk in the morning, there was a fully grown man.

Despite that, Ermal knew that whatever he would have said or done he was still that serious kid in the eyes of that small but big woman.

 **"If you have nothing to do, you could come with me to the market, dear. What do you think about that?"** his mother whispered, almost as if she was afraid of popping that bubble of peace that had created in the kitchen.

He looked happily into her eyes, took her hand, which was still in his hair, and kissed the palm before squeezing it. Without his family's support and love he definitely wouldn't have been able to handle the pain that break up left him feeling. Those two weeks he had spent in his Bari really did him good, despite everything.

 **"I'd really like to go with you, Rush**."** he told her, gifting her with one of the most radiant yet tired smiles he could gift her with.

Sabrina, who in the meantime had silently witnessed that scene, smiled tenderly behind her cup of latte.

 **"Well, if you're done acting like lovebirds, I'd like to say goodbye to my brother before going to work."** she said, trying to draw the guy's attention. Ermal laughed at that statement and got up to welcome his little princess into his arms.

 **"Please, try not to seduce any old lady at the market or mum will have to comfort them afterward."** she joked, making the both of them laugh.

With a twirl, the girl left the dining room and got closer to the entrance before going out. Mother and son were left in the kitchen talking and gently comforting each other for half an hour then they both got ready and went out in the chilly October air to go to the city market.

After spending half a day between fish and vegetable stalls, Ermal decided to have a nice walk on the beach before lunch. The waves would have been the perfect soundtrack for his thoughts.

Two weeks had already gone by since his sudden getaway to Bari and he knew that in a while he would have had to get back to work. The thought of finding himself all alone in that apartment didn't scare him anymore. It still hurt, he couldn't deny that, but he was slowly putting all the pieces of himself back together and the future didn't look that terrible anymore. Silvia would have still appeared in his long sleepless nights, but the love his family gave him since he came back had cured his wounds. He was healing and his job would have helped him forget and move on. He couldn't help but deny that it was not going to be all sunshine and rainbows in the future.

Like the sea getting rough before his eyes, he knew there would have been calm and rough moments, he just had to be ready to float with his small boat when the tempest would have come.

The wind coming from the sea slapped him in the face really nice, waking him up from his thoughts. Ermal kept walking along the shore for a while before his phone started ringing, breaking the peace and quiet of that place.

He immediately pulled it out of his pocket, certain that it was his mother calling to tell him it was time to come home.

Only, it wasn't his mum, but the Commissioner of Milan.

**"Hello, doctor Meta, we need your help in Rome."**

***

_The train is arriving at Roma Termini._

The recorded voice spread through the wagon, telling Ermal that he had reached his destination. He closed his PC and leaned towards the window in order to observe the slowing outline of the houses to his left while they came closer to the bus station of the capital.

The call he had received a couple of days earlier had surprised him more than he himself expected: there had been several murders in Rome and the killer had fun emulating an old acquaintance of his.

In fact, a few years earlier they had caught one of the 'most dangerous Italian serial killers' thanks to his brilliant deductions. It was a tough case, almost impossible according to some people, and surely out of the ordinary imaginary: people killed without any sense of logic nor connection between them, they almost didn't believe it was the same person committing the massacre. Only one thing connected that blood trail: a signature.

He was very young back then, he was still a resident who had just got out of the faculty of medicine yet he had been able to connect all the dots of that intriguing case. By doing so he earned several pages of every newspaper and a very important job in Milan. Besides the conviction of the responsible.

He was checking the old files of that case in order to face this new task in the best way possible. The thing that convinced him the least was the letter that arrived in Rome and was addressed to him.

As if the killer wanted him there, in that city...

He kept thinking about the new case they entrusted him with even when he got off the train and started going towards the entrance of the station. Parked just outside there was a police car and a young officer who, as soon as he saw him, started waving his arms to get his attention.

 **"Good morning, doctor Meta and welcome to Rome. I'm officer Moriconi and I'm in charge of accompanying you to the police station."** the guy blurted out, before making the military salute.

The man nodded and handed him his suitcase before getting in the car.

A few moments later they were driving around the busy roads of that city and Ermal had all the time to enjoy the panorama from his window. Rome was a very beautiful city, despite all its problems.

His glance then moved towards the young guy that was driving him around: he was in his twenties and, judging by the dark circles under his eyes and a small hickey hid under the shirt, last night he preferred other activities to sleep. Maybe the man spent too much time studying the little details that guy offered him since the officer scratched the back of his neck clearly embarrassed.

He was too caught in his own thoughts to notice that the guy had been talking to him.

**"... as I was saying, doctor, I' driving you to the crime scene on the orders of inspector Mobrici."**

**"Another victim?"** asked the chestnut-haired boy, receiving a nod shortly after.

 **"Fabrizio called me before I got to the station, he needs your experience."** said the officer, confusing the passenger a little. **"I'm sorry doctor, the inspector and I know each other very well so sometimes I happen to call him by his first name, even at work."** he laughed, clearly embarrassed while the chestnut-haired guy's voice scolding him in a very heavy roman dialect kept echoing in his head.

After that phrase, Ermal's mind kept thinking about that name.

Fabrizio Mobrici, inspector entrusted with the investigations concerning those weird murders. As soon as Ermal knew who he would have had to work with, he wasted no time and started looking for information about the man. It was an old habit of his, he needed to understand who the people he was working with really were. He had already made up his mind about what kind of person the inspector was:

He joined the police force when he was really young and thanks to an undercover investigation he managed to block a drug and prostitution trade, proving his skills as an infallible cop. Judging from the information he managed to find about him, this Mobrici man seemed like a good partner to work with.

After taking a couple of roads, Niccolò and Ermal arrived near the orbital road and parked in the parking of a modest motel.

The perimeter was bordered by the yellow police tape and Ermal immediately noticed several forensics men around a burned car.

As he got closer to it, he recognized a man amongst all those unknown figures.

A man in his forties, who he had to admit looked so much younger. Chestnut hair, olive skin, height around 1.80m, weight around 80kg. He was wearing a black leather jacket and a pair of knee-wrenching jeans, a cigarette and a pair of dark sunglasses completed the look. He really looked like a chav.

Did he see freckles on his face?

 **"Good morning, you must be Doctor Meta. It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm inspector Mobrici."** the man said, throwing the cigarette on the ground before shaking his hand.

Ermal noticed some rings decorating the man's hand.

He was not married.

The inspector earned a very interested look form the doctor, before receiving an answer.

**"Please inspector, if you want to work with me on the crime scene wear all that is necessary not to taint the evidence."**

**"I'm sorry, what?"**

**"Wear a mask, a jumpsuit, and shoe covers. Thank you."** The doctor answered without even looking him in the eyes, while he started wearing a pair of latex gloves.

Fabrizio stood there, confused for a couple of seconds by the coldness of that statement.

 **"Geez, what a  jerk."** the inspector said while one of his subordinates helped him into the white forensic jumpsuit. Unfortunately, that morning luck was not on his side since Doctor Meta found himself around him while he was saying those words.

**"I'm here to solve murders, inspector, not to be likable to you."**

The two men got closer to the burned car and started examining the bodies inside.

 **"Andrea Longo, 28 years old and Lucrezia Mancini, 25 years old. They were found early this morning by a customer of the motel."** Fabrizio said, gaining his professionalism back. **"The bodies show three stab wounds each and the same symbol burned on the other victims."**

 **"Did they find something next to the bodies?"** Ermal asked, examining the wounds on the young woman's abdomen. The killer used the same kind of knife, impressing.

**"Yes, this note was found tangled between the bodies, there's a passage of the Divina Commedia written on it."**

When Ermal heard those words, his attention focused on the standing by his side, who handed him the note.

It had the same symbol used by the original killer and even the kind of paper was the exact same.

The emulator paid extreme attention to every detail and seemed to know all of them. He must have met the original killer, there were no doubts about that.

The man carefully opened the note and silently read the passage printed on it:

_**«Amor, ch’al cor gentil ratto s’apprende** _

_**prese costui de la bella persona** _

_**che mi fu tolta; e ’l modo ancor m’offende.** _

_**Amor, ch’a nullo amato amar perdona,** _

_**mi prese del costui piacer sì forte,** _

_**che, come vedi, ancor non m’abbandona.** _

_**Amor condusse noi ad una morte:** _

_**Caina attende chi a vita ci spense» ***** _

After Ermal read it he handed the note back to the inspector with the bitter awareness that he was once again dealing with the same murderous madness he dealt with ten years ago.

The two of them remained on the crime scene for another hour, talking to each other only when strictly necessary. It was obvious to anyone that the two didn't get along, but they seemed to work extremely well together despite them being so distant to each other.

The weirdest thing about it all was the reaction of the inspector to doctor Meta's request.

Fabrizio was very well known for being a person who did not like rules that much and sometimes didn't stick to them. That, more than once, led him to several discussions with the coroner on duty about the aseptic conditions of the crime scene. With doctor Meta, though, things were different, he acted almost like a submissive person.

Ermal wasn't the only one who had been doing his homework, Fabrizio looked for information about him too. He found out that despite his young age, he was one of the best in his field, he was a professional who put the resolution of the case and the arrest of the right guilty party above everything. He had immediately understood that he was dealing with someone who was very much like him, someone who tried to do his job as best as he could.

Working by his side on the crime scene didn't turn out to be as bad as their initial conversation predicted it to be. They both examined the bodies and collected pieces of evidence, exchanging every now and then a little information. They both were surprised by the complicity they achieved when the day ended. They came back to the police station for lunch and were welcomed by Commissioner Domenicone.

 **"It's a pleasure to have you here, Doctor Meta, I hope the inspector let you work peacefully without getting in your way."** the commissioner said, shaking the newcomer's hand.

 **"I must tell you the truth, commissioner, despite the initial dislike we managed to work as best as we could."** Ermal said, moving his glance towards Fabrizio.

The chestnut haired guy didn't expect such a statement and was pleasantly impressed by that. He couldn't help but smile at him and scratch his beard, clearly embarrassed.

The commissioner excused himself after a while and the doctor decided to head to the forensic laboratory.

He was surprised when, after a few steps, he didn't see the inspector following him.

 **"Aren't you coming to witness the autopsies?"** he asked, surprised.

The man looked at the point of his shoes for a few seconds before looking upwards and answering:

**"Usually the coroner on duty doesn't let me in the laboratory, he sais I 'taint' it."**

**"Well, doctor De Santis is not in charge of these cases, I am, inspector Mobrici, and I need your investigative knowledge during the autopsies."** the guy said confidently before walking towards the laboratory.

Once they entered the laboratory, Ermal gave the assistant some directives and, after wearing the mask and the hairnet, they found themselves standing side by side, only an iron table with a body covered by a white sheet to divide them.

The body was very small.

As soon as the information reached Fabrizio's brain, he started to see the room spinning.

 **"Inspector, are you okay?"** Ermal asked with a concerned voice before reaching him.

He didn't want him to faint there.

 **"I'm sorry, doctor. The fact is that this little creature reminds me of my daughter."** Fabrizio confessed, breathing in and out very slowly in order to calm himself down.

He didn't know why but that phrase stirred a certain tenderness in Ermal's soul.

Tenderness mixed with painful old memories.

**"Don't worry inspector, I'll be doing the second autopsy alone. Do you want to examine today's victims or do you want to go out?"**

**"No, let's keep going. I'm already feeling better."**

The assistant put little Mara's body in the freezer and together with the two men, started examining the two bodies found that morning.

**"Okay, as we can see the victims don't show any burns so it's possible that they were killed somewhere else and then moved into the car."**

**"They're questioning the owner of the motel, maybe the victims had stayed there the night of the murder."** Fabrizio interrupted him.

 **"The time of death is estimated between 3:30 and 4 in the morning. Has the police found something other than the note? Maybe in the car."** the doctor asked, turning toward the assistant to check that he was writing down all the medical information on the autopsy register.

**"Nothing relevant, but the license plate brought us to the owner, Alfredo Longo. Andrea's brother..."**

**"...and Lucrezia's husband. Just like Paolo and Francesca…"** Ermal said, overthinking. He showed Fabrizio the wedding ring on the woman's finger and there was the name 'Alfredo' carved on it.

**"This killer really enjoys reading the Divina Commedia."**

**"He enjoys playing with other people's lives, inspector. Noting more than that."** the doctor said coldly before putting the wedding ring they found inside a small plastic bag.

The autopsy continued in total silence before an officer called the inspector to interrogate the husband and the brother of the victims at the station.

Ermal found himself completing the autopsy alone, with only the lab assistant to keep him company.

Once the autopsy was completed, the man was summoned at the police station.

 **"Doctor Meta, I've called you in to welcome you to Rome... and also to give you this.."** the man said, inviting him to sit in front of him before handing him the letter that brought him to that city.

It was different than the one found next to the bodies.

It wasn't the old killer's habit to send letters to the police, it was the new killer's doing.

As he suspected, the passage had been typed. The killer had written the whole first chapter of the Inferno and left a note on the right corner of the sheet of paper:

_**May the descend to hell begin.** _

No signature, no stains, nothing.

What was right in front of him was just a gauntlet. Whether he accepted it or not was entirely up to him.

 **"This case is like no others, I need all people involved in the investigation to be in perfect sync... Especially you and inspector Mobrici, you're the leaders."** the man said with a serious tone, looking steadily at the guy in front of him, ready to capture every sudden change in his facial expression.

**"If your concern is the pathologist and the inspector on duty not getting along you don't have to worry; inspector Mobrici and I work very well together despite everything."**

The commissioner paid extreme attention to his words, almost as if they were shreds of evidence.

In a blink, Ermal felt like he was the one being interrogated.

 **"You see, doctor, I've known Fabrizio for a long time, since before he joined the police force. I know he's a bit unfriendly on the outside and that he doesn't really sympathize with the rules of the forensic lab... but I guess you had already realized that."** the man mumbled, earning a smile.

**"What I mean to say is: don't judge him by his cover and be patient, Fabrizio still is very introverted and used to working alone, just like you are."**

**"Then why did you team us up together? If you need your team to be in perfect sync then why did you team up two lone wolves?"** Ermal asked, biting his tongue immediately after he pronounced those words.

The man silently looked at him for a few seconds before speaking:

 **"Because I've studied your file, doctor. Believe me, I couldn't have teamed you up with someone better than him."** concluded the commissioner, gently inviting him to get out of his office.

That last sentence followed Ermal until he reached his hotel room and did not let him sleep.

What Domenicone meant with that sentence, he'd have found out soon.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *First joy (Used by parents towards their children)  
> **Dear (lit. Grapes)  
> ***"Love, which absolves from loving none that ’s loved,  
> seized me so strongly for his love of me,  
> that, as thou see’st, it doth not leave me yet.  
> Love to a death in common led us on;  
> Cain’s ice awaiteth him who quenched our life."


	3. Mi salvi chi può

**"I've already told you! I love my wife, I would have never hurt her."** a sob, stronger than the others filled the small, stuffy room. **"I loved my brother too, despite everything... they were my family!"**

Alfredo Longo covered his mouth with both hands as if he were scared by the way he had shouted that last sentence and, still sobbing softly, whispered: "They told me she would come back to me and I was waiting, as I have already told you... I was waiting for her.."

**"The neighbors have heard yells and noises the same morning the murder was perpetrated. Did you blackmail Lucrezia?"**

**"No! Yes, we argued, but I would have never blackmailed her! I only asked her to... choose and she chose... me..."** Tears of sorrow were now wetting his face.

**"And why on earth would she choose…"**

**"That's it, deputy Rubini, go get a cup o' coffee. Berti, take Longo outside to get some air and get him a cup o' coffee too."** Fabrizio's voice erased the tension that wandered around the interrogation room as electricity did through wires, making the suspect sigh.

**"He was about to give up, you can't stop me now!" The senior officer complained once they were outside the room. "Why the hell did you do that?"**

**"You weren't questionin' him, Rubini."** The inspector's voice was firm and serious. **"You were offendin' him. Do you even have a clue about how you question a man who lost his family just yesterday?"**

The man's wizened face turned, if possible, even redder with anger and shame. He opened his mouth ready to yell at Fabrizio when, from the end of the hallway, Commissioner Domenicone's voice called him: **"I'm sorry, Andrea, could you please come to my office for a moment?"**

The deputy instantly calmed down and, shortly after fixing his tie and muttering a venomous **"It's not over, sonny…"** , walked away strutting.

Fabrizio looked at him going away and sighed. Andrea Rubini really was a pain in the ass, he was quite elderly but didn't want to retire. He considered himself better than anybody else and especially better than him because of all the connections he had sprawled around the high places. Moreover, despite being a few ranks under him, he kept disrespecting him all the time. He hated him and the feeling was mutual.

**"He was bothering you again, wasn't he?"**

Mobrici jolted because he hadn't realized the Commissioner had stealthily come behind his back. **"C-commissioner, weren't you…"**

**"I only wanted to get him out of your sight. One day or another I'm sure he's going to kill you.. Anyways, I have to entrust you with a case."**

**"A case? But, Commissione', I'm already dealin' with…"**

**"Yes, I know, I entrusted you with that! This is a delicate matter and I need someone who's quick and competent to deal with it, someone who can solve the situation in a short period of time. You're the best here. No, Fabbri, don't make that face, you know it's the truth. I trust you and I want you and your team to deal with it, is it okay for you?"**

Fabrizio couldn't do anything but sigh to the smiling face of his not-so-much-ex father-in-law. **"Okay, I accept. What's the deal with it?”**

**"There's a missing girl. Her parents are in my office waiting for you."**

Fabrizio sighed once again, but this timeless confidently.

 

***

The two people sitting in front of him, on the opposite side of the Commissioner's desk, were the spitting image of terror and concern. The wife, Sara Vanni, was convulsively touching her hair and squeezing her hands while her husband, Renato Pontecorvo, stiff and static like a statue was feverishly clenching his jaw and looking around the room. It was pretty obvious from their creased yet expensive clothes that they were very wealthy.

**"Could you please tell me something about your daughter? Her habits, her friends, if she has a scooter.."** he needed to have as many details as possible about the girl.

**"Lucia is very extroverted and she has lots of friends."** Renato was looking straight into his eyes and his voice was a little shaky while he was talking. **"She doesn't have a scooter yet, she just turned seventeen. She often goes out at night, even on school nights... my wife and I have tried to convince her to study more and not come back home too late, but... she's a very stubborn girl.."**

_Maybe you mean spoiled. She's a girl who doesn't give a damn about anything, just perfect..._

**"She goes to the gym with a friend twice a week, she always comes back home alone but it's not that far so she walks. She went to the gym yesterday as well."**

**"So when have you lost her tracks?"**

**"She left home at seven o'clock and was supposed to come back at ten past eight, but she didn't so we called the gym and they told us she got there on time, as usual, and left at about eight. She doesn't answer her phone and none of her classmates has seen her or knows anything. Even the girl she went to the gym with knows nothing, we looked for her all night long…"**

A sob escaped the mother's lips while Renato squeezed the arm of the chair so tightly that he could have broken it with not much effort.

**"Who's this girl?"**

**"It's her dearest friend, they've known each other since middle school. Her name is Vittoria Pane, she came over just a couple of days ago. She and Lucia are inseparable, they know everything about each other."**

**"I'm sorry, I need some fresh air. Excuse me."** Mrs. Pontecorvo's shaky voice interrupted the conversation. Fabrizio followed her with his gaze while she left the room.

**"Do you have any children, inspector?"** he said as soon as his wife had crossed the threshold, moving his gaze to the pictures on his desk.

**"Yes, I have two."**

**"Then you can understand a father's distress. Sara and I have, how can I say, fought to have Lucia because we were about to lose her not long after she was born. That's why we've always spoiled her because she's the best thing we have and we don't' want to risk losing her again... please... bring us our baby girl back."** The commotion broke his voice.

**"We, actually, I will do anything in my power to find Lucia, whatever it takes."**

**"Thank you so much, inspector."**

***

One hour has gone by since Mr. Pontecorvo and his wife had left the police station and Fabrizio was waiting for Vittoria, Lucia's best friend. They had called in the parents as well since the girl was underage and in a few minutes, they would have been there.

**"Are you okay, inspector? Have they found a body? You look terrible..."**

Out of all the people he'd expected to hear that phrase from, doctor Meta was not one of them, still, he was standing next to him by the coffee machine and was looking at him curiously. He wasn't even going to drink the coffee, but what do they say about habits.

**"Do you really wanna know? It's a pretty long story, eh."**

**"I'm free at the moment so why not? If I can be of use..."**

**"Then follow me 'n ma office, I need to sit."**

Ten minutes later Ermal was updated about all he knew about the new case, which was still very little. They were just wondering about where the girl could be when all of a sudden the door thrust open, revealing Niccolò.

**"Niccolò, why the hell do you wanna tore my fucking door down?"**

**"I'm sorry, inspector, I’m a little distracted... ah, good morning doctor!"** he said almost out of breath before smiling to Ermal. **"The Panes are here for the Pontecorvo case. Do I let them in?"**

**"Yes, let them in. Doctor, do you mind keepin' me company? I mean, two pairs of ears are better than one."**

Ermal hadn't expected it at all. It was one thing to tell him about a case they still knew nothing about, but it was a completely different thing to let him take part in the investigation! That really surprised him.

**"Yes, if it's not a problem, it would be an honor."**

Fabrizio noticed that sparkle of excitement that had escaped from his gaze. He had only had a preview of his skills and wanted to know the mysterious doctor better. Most of all, he was interested in his particular temper: he spent hours with a straight face using big, important words or even in silence but then, all of a sudden, he cracked jokes, laughed and even smiled. He'd seen him smile only once, briefly, that same morning. He was surprised by the light that smile gave off as if it was a small sun that let only a few people enjoy its hot rays. Despite all that, the inspector knew he was a genius in disguise and thought he would have been of use. He didn't even have the time to tell him to get a chair that two women entered his office. The first one, in her fifties, got close to him with a steady and confident pace and, handing him her hand said: **"Good morning, I'm Lavinia Pane. This is my daughter, Vittoria. Are you the inspector Mobrici?"**

**"Yes, that'd be me, good morning'. Please, sit."** Fabrizio pointed at the chair and then nodded at Niccolò, who was sitting behind his desk at the corner of the room. **"This is agent Moricone and doctor Meta, they're my most trusted colleagues. "** He said, turning towards Ermal, who was leaning on the library.

The doctor saw Vittoria sitting and holding a sigh, the girl was very nervous. Ever since she had set foot into the room, she hadn't been doing anything but torturing a strand of chocolate hair and biting one of her polished nails. He had to put her at ease otherwise everything would have been useless.

**"Hey, my name is Ermal. You're Vittoria, aren't you?"** He asked her, stepping away from the wall to get close to her.

The girl, taken aback, nodded with her head before fixing her glasses with maybe too much dash.

**"Don't worry, Vittoria."** He continued, displaying his best smile. **"We're here for your friend Lucia and we really need you to help us, it's not like we're questioning you! You're tense, I can understand that, I am too, but see, Fabrizio is one of the nicest people I know and you don't have to be afraid of him or me for all that matters."** After saying that, he put a hand on the inspector's shoulder, who struggled not to give him an amazed look, he wasn't really understanding what was going on there.

However, the older one couldn't help but notice that the doctor had called him by his first name. It was weird hearing his name pronounced by that voice. He had immediately noticed the perfect Italian accent, but he had also noticed a particular inflection which was very well hidden and hard to notice without knowing his ethnical background.

His name pronounced by him sounded almost musical.

**"Now we're gonna ask you some questions, personal ones too, but please answer honestly and remember that in these cases the rule of the unspeakable secret doesn't apply, do you understand?"** An amused smile appeared on the girl's lips, making Ermal continue. **"Everything you're gonna say it's gonna be super important. Everything you're going to tell us is going to help us find Lucia. So, will you help us? I need your help."**

Only at that moment Fabrizio understood what game was the handsome doctor playing. He had understood when he noticed the girl had lowered her glance shyly and her cheeks were flushed. She was more relaxed than she was before. He wanted to win her trust... and he had literally done that. He would have had a nice talk with the handsome doctor.

**"Can I ask ya how long have ya and Lucia known each other?"**

**"We were classmates in middle school, at San Benedetto. We're still classmates in high school."** Her voice was weak and she was looking only at Ermal, but the only thing that mattered to Fabrizio was that she spoke, he didn't care about the rest.

**"And tell me, do you tell each other everything? Secrets, problems and doubts?"**

**"Yes, everything... there are no secrets between us... at least I think so..."**

**"Has she ever told you something about someone that bothered her or about a boy, maybe a lover?"**

Vittoria bit her lips nervously and moved her gaze to her mother, sat by her side, who gave her a questioning look.

**"Niccolò, can you please escort Mrs. Pane outside? Offer her a coffee on my behalf."**

**"But... why…"** She stuttered, taken aback.

**"I insist, I don't have to ask her much more anyways."** Fabrizio was smiling calmly to the woman while Niccolò escorted her to the door. He had understood that the juicy information was still stuck to the girl's lips, who was scared to reveal them in front of her mother.

When the door shut closed the inspector looked at Vittoria and asked: **"So, does anything come to your mind?"**

**"Well.. thanks, I've never talked to her about it and Lucia's parents don't know anything about it either. Anyway, she has had a couple of flings this summer but they were not from here and it was nothing serious.. if I had to think about actual boyfriends, I'd have three in my mind but neither my mum nor her parents have to know about it!"**

**"Don't worry, now tell us who are these boys."**

**"Well, Vincenzo Mattei is 18, he's been her first love. They'd been together for almost a year, but they broke up before summer because he cheated on her if I recall correctly. Lucia was desperate but got over it pretty quickly in fact not after a month later she started dating Antonio… de Maio, yes de Maio, who's 22. Even though things with him never got well at all, they broke up two weeks later because he was too 'clingy'. She's been going out with Michele Crispino who I think is 19, but I don't know him well. If I'm not mistaken, he told her he liked her a few days ago but she had to tell me all about it yesterday..."**

She immediately shut up, opened her eyes wide as if she had just realized what happened. **"You'll find her, won't you?"** she whispered and suddenly turned pale.

**"We'll do anything we can, I promise."** Ermal was looking at her in the eyes and was so incredibly calm. **"But now tell me, please, what did you mean when you said that he was clingy?"**

Vittoria tried to calm down, rubbing her watery eyes and sniffing. With a shaky voice, she said: **"Well, I came to know Antonio pretty well because he was always with her, in fact, she told me that he didn't want her to go out with her friends alone because he was jealous. When they dated he always gave her presents even though he's not that rich! He works as a waiter in a bar and I think he did that so that she wouldn’t consider him lower than she was or something like that. I've never liked him, never. He was too obsessed with Lucia, he always wanted her to be with him, to speak to him only. When we went out together it was real torture, they spent all the time making out, sorry if I'm gross… and even got jealous of me! When he told me I knew too much about Lucia and her secrets she sent him off. From that moment on, more than three months ago, they haven't seen each other anymore."**

**"Do you know how this Antonio lad reacted when Lucia broke up with him?"**

**"Not really, but not much time after they broke up he started sending her flowers every day and then if they met he'd obsessively ask her if he had done something wrong. She hasn't told me anything about him anymore so I think he hasn't contacted her anymore."**

**"Do you think there's someone else who could have done somethin' like that?"**

She shook her head firmly. **"Lucia has no enemies and has never told me anything about someone who bothered her."**

Fabrizio gave Ermal an eloquent look and then, looking back at the girl, said: **"Can I ask you to tell me what happened last night?"**

**"Yes, well I waited for Lucia in front of her house and we went together to the gym. She was really happy and she told me she wanted to tell me something, but then I didn't feel very well so I went home a little earlier. She usually leaves the gym at eight o'clock and comes back home alone while I keep training until half past eight. She wanted to talk to me about Michele, I know that, and she didn't look concerned at all. In fact, when her parents called me and told me they didn't find her I really didn't know what to think."**

**"Who do you think could have done it?"** Ermal was looking at her curiously while the inspector let out a sigh, that was really the worst question he could have asked her.

**"I don't know! I have no idea who could have done something so terrible..."**

**"Okay, thanks, Vittoria. All the information you've given us has been very helpful, we'll keep you updated on the investigation."** Fabrizio smiled at her and escorted her to the door where she turned and smiled to Ermal before going out. **"Goodbye, Erm... erm doctor Meta, thanks for everything!"** She said before stepping closer to Fabrizio and saying: **"Goodbye."**

Almost running, she went back to her mother who was sat on one of the chairs in the lobby.

**"Do you think it was him, Antonio?"** Ermal's voice made him turn around. **"I don't know."** He admitted. **"It seems too easy."**

**"Sometimes, inspector, the easiest solution is the right one."**

***

**"So, Niccolò, have you called the three boys yet?"**

**"Sure, Fab. I meant, inspector. I sent for them and they should be here soon. In the meantime, where do I have to go?"**

Fabrizio sighed heavily at that statement.

**"Are you deaf?! I have just told you to look for the footage of the security cameras from the gym to her house. We hope to find something in there. Go over the videos alone if I'm questioning the suspects, but if I'm not call me ASAP, understood?"**

The boy nodded so fast that his cap almost fell from his head. He turned around just as quickly and left the office. The inspector sighed once again and collapsed on the chair, massaging his eyelids. It was a bad day and Niccolò seemed to be with his head between clouds or at least more than he usually seemed to be.

Those distractions did absolutely no good to the investigation. His thoughts immediately went to the missing girl and in particular to her parents, whom he had met a few moments earlier. It was useless to deny to himself that he didn't feel empathy for them since he was a father too. It wasn't good for his hypochondria to think about himself as a father with a missing child.

Luckily the smell of coffee distracted him from his thoughts and he opened his eyes. He found Doctor Meta in front of him handing him a cup of espresso.

**"I thought you may need it, you're pretty stressed today."** The younger one muttered, putting the beverage on the table before sitting in front of him.

**"Thank you for the thought, doctor, but I must decline. I don't drink coffee, it gives me the palpitations."**

**"Then I'll drink to you. Even though it's from the machine in the hallway it's a waste to throw it away."** The other announced before raising his cup to him and drinking the beverage in just a few sips.

Since he was standing in front of him, Fabrizio managed to notice more details about his figure: he noticed two rings which decorated a few fingers of his very pale hands, he noticed his charcoal grey turtleneck and the skintight jeans that hugged his long, lean legs perfectly.

**"There's something wrong, inspector? Do I have something on my face?"** Ermal laughed, amused by the lost gaze the inspector had since that morning.

The man crossed his amused gaze and awakened.

**"Sorry, doc. Today is not a great day."**

**"Are you thinking about the missing girl?"** Fabrizio nodded sadly. **"I know you suspect her last boyfriend, but it seems too easy to me."**

The doctor settled down better on the chair and stared at the inspector with a firm gaze.

**"Believe me, inspector, he seems a violent person with stalker inclinations. Don't fall for the 'it's too easy to be true' story."**

At that moment, Fabrizio noticed another aspect of his glaze: it was a tiny flame that got swallowed by deep darkness that seemed to come from an as much dark past.

That darkness seemed to be the reflex of his own, as if that well dressed and well-behaved doctor hid something inside himself, like his own demons.

The older one felt a weird and indescribable feeling of complicity in that look. Something that scared him and surprised him at the same time.

In that very moment, someone knocked at his office door.

**"Come in."**

**"Inspector, the suspects of the Pontecorvo case are here."**

The inspector got up and facing doctor Emral said: **"Let's see who's right..."**

**

Fabrizio couldn't stand the interrogation room, it was too small for his latent claustrophobia and it looked like a hospital with its bare walls... and he hated hospitals. Moreover, the interrogation room had an even worse meaning since it reminded him of deputy Rubini. A shiver went down his spine when he realized he couldn't stand the guy who was sitting in front of him either. His hair looked greasy and his face looked elastic, like one of his daughter's dolls. Ever since he had stepped foot into the room he hadn't done anything but showing his arrogance and superiority. If Libero hed even dared to grow up to become something like that he would have immediately taught him a lesson, that's for sure.

Vincenzo Mattei, 21 years old, studied economics at Luiss university ( _daddy's preppy boy_ ) and as if it wasn't enough, had even dared to complain about the time he had been called at. It took Fabrizio all his strength not to slap that kid on the cheek, something his parents had obviously forgotten to do.

**"How long have you known Lucia?"** Rubini looked almost disinterested.

**"I've known her for more than two years but we haven't spoken to each other in four or five months. Honestly, it's better this way..."**

Rubini ignored his annoying voice and continued. **"How did you two met?"**

**"Bho, maybe at a party... I don't remember."**

**"When was the last time you two met?"**

**"Who knows, June maybe? Bah."**

**"Look, we're not here to waste time."** Rubini looked like he was about to lose his patience. **"So answer the damn questions."**

Vincenzo dramatically rose his eyes to the ceiling and crossed his arms, waiting.

**"Why did you break up? Was there a particular reason?"**

**"She broke up with me because I fucked a friend of hers. But what was I supposed to do? She was such a prick teaser!"**

Fabrizio could feel the neurons in his brain violently crushing one against the other in the spasmodic search of an explanation to that sentence. Obviously in vain.

**"How come?"** The deputy awakened and found himself pretty interested in the sequence of events.

**"What the hell do I know! She told me I was neglecting her, that I was with her only for her pussy.."**

**"Yeah, we got that, let's skip the details."** Fabrizio shut him up harshly, astonished by that boy's vulgarity. **"Keep talking, seriously this time…"**

_What the hell does he think he's doin' at uni?_

**"By the way, it was better that way, she was just a burden to me."** And after saying that he fixed the collar of his polo shirt. He looked more like the actor of a Spanish soap opera than someone who was being questioned.

**"Where were you last night?"**

**"Where was I last night? I was drunk at a bar, why?"**

**"So you have someone who can confirm your alibi?"**

**"I was alone, but I think I went to the San Vincenzo in via Raggi... Do you really think it was me? I wanted nothing to do with that pain in the ass anymore, she would always get in my way. I couldn't stand her and I still can't."**

**"It bugs you, doesn't it?"** Fabrizio looked at him in the eyes, getting a little closer to him and standing above his figure.

**"What?"** Vincenzo jumped, surprised by that question.

**"That she left you, it eats you. You wanted her all to yourself, you wanted her to be your propriety only and to be submissive, didn't you? But she didn't want that so she left you and you were shocked. Now you're jealous because she has a new boyfriend and she's happier than she ever was with ya. That's why you kidnapped her or worst, right?"**

**"What the fuck are you saying? How dare you..."**

**"Sonny, do I really have to remind you who you're speaking to? Be respectful or you'll spend the night here, in jail."**

**"You can't!"** The boy suddenly got anxious, he was looking at them in the eyes with anger and terror.

**"Of course we can, pal. So if you don't want to spend the night away from home in a cold cell I suggest you tell us where you're keeping Lucia."**

**"I don't know! I haven't seen her in months!"** His mask of confidence and indifference broke in a minute, replaced by pure panic. **"She doesn't even want to talk to me anymore!"**

**"A witness."** Fabrizio was merciless, his face was so focused that didn't show any emotions. It looked like he was digging in his soul. **"Told us they saw you together some time ago."**

Vincenzo whitened in a moment and whispered a weak: **"No..."** His fear and distress were so obvious.

**"What witness? We've only questioned him."** Rubini's voice suddenly broke the tension in the room, making the inspector turn his way almost in a mechanical way. He was about to shout but the frustration he was feeling prevented him to.

**"Come on, Rubini, don't you remember?"** His face was turning red from anger. **"The witness we questioned this morning..."**

**"No, I don't remember... there's no witness. Besides the girl said nothing about him."**

There weren't enough insults or curses to describe how Fabrizio was feeling at that moment. He was so upset and shocked that he didn't notice the sudden change of attitude in the suspect who, as if by magic, had regained color and had changed his frightened expression with an icy look.

**"Are you mokin' me, inspector?"**

**"The interrogatory is over. Berti, please escort Mr. Mattei to his accommodation for the night. We'll see if he remembers something."**

**"You can't do this! I didn't do anything! It's against the law!"**

**"Your almost complete absence of an alibi, your more than real motive and your behavior make me think otherwise. For now, you're the only suspect so you'll spend the day here."**

The hateful glance Vincenzo gave him while they were taking him away did nothing but convince him of his theories.

Once out of the room he started massaging his eyes and growled. He was going to kill Rubini with a service gun and he would have proudly gone to jail for that, this was one of the few certainties he had in life.

When they found themselves standing face to face he had to use all his strength not to jump at his throat and, after letting out a badly held sigh, he icily said: **"Rubini, I don't need you anymore. I'll handle the next interrogatory all by myself."**

He could clearly see the dismay on his face, but he didn't even want to give him time to answer so he prepared himself to leave. He didn't want any bloodshed for such an idiot.

**"It's not my fault if you make shit up! You know very well that bullshit leads you nowhere!"** Rubini got back at him and furiously shouted at him.

**"If you were so good at interrogatories as ya say ya are then why did ya forget that lying is licit too? You, who have spent your whole life lying!"** After saying that Fabrizio shut the door behind him, tired and pissed off.

He was going to question Michele, the least suspicious one of the three, in his office.

A few moments later, a timid knock on the door distracted him from his ill-fated thoughts. He saw Niccolò's head peeking out from the threshold.

**"I've heard ya screaming from the video room, what happened?"**

**"Nothing, Niccolò, it was just Rubini. He always pisses me off."** He said. Then, giving him a second glance he admitted: **"You know what? It's your lucky day. Stop doing what you were doing with the videos and help me with the interrogatories."**

The young agent opened his eyes widely and very happily said: **"In no time, Fabbrì!"** He made him laugh.

***

**"I'm Michele Crispino and I'm 19. I've just started studying biotechnology."**

The guy sitting in front of him made him smile a little. He had black hair and dark skin, his eyes were hidden behind a pair of colorful glasses but were big and watery. They were full of concern, something that also made him sit very stiffly on the chair. He seemed very shy, judging by his self-presentation which looked like talk show material.

**"Tell me, Michele."** Fabrizio started, much more relaxed than before. **"Where were you last night at about half past seven/ eight?"**

**"I was at home, studying. There were my mother and my brothers with me. I didn't go out yesterday despite my friends had invited me. I stayed home."**

_Why the hell does he look like a stereotypical geek? Whatever at least he seems like a great guy._

**"When was the last time you saw Lucia?"**

**"We went out together the day before yesterday."** His cheeks turned a fine shade of red. **"Yesterday we only texted on WhatsApp. At half-past eight I texted her again, I thought she had gotten home from the gym... but she didn't text me back. At nine Vittoria called me asking if she was with me o if I had at least seen her. Anyways, the last text she sent me was at seven, just before going out."**

**"How long have you two known each other?"**

**"We've known each other for a long time, my sister was her classmate and her friend, but we've started really knowing each other three months ago when we started texting. We got together the day before yesterday... I know it may seem a little period of time, but I've loved her since the moment we met and I'd do anything for her…"**

**"Look, Michele, you seem like a good guy, don't go away or you're going to be in trouble..."**

**"Yes, sir!"**

The seriousness which he almost shouted that statement with made him understand that he was not kidding him, but he was only terrified by that, not so veiled, threat.

**"Excellent, one last question. Has Lucia ever told you about someone who was bothering her? Or have you ever seen someone bothering her?"**

**"Well, if I really have to think about it, the only people she has ever complained about are her ex-boyfriends. Vincenzo I think was one of them, the other one is Antonio. She has never complained nor talked to me about other people except for them.”**

**"If you think of something else, please let us know, okay?"**

**"Absolutely!"** He got up and after he had shaken his hand, he headed towards the door.

**"Wait for a second…"** He exclaimed when he was on the threshold. **"A few weeks ago she told me she had run into one of her exes... I don't remember who he was exactly... and he had told her something bad about me or something like that. She told me she had had a fight with him and then she had well... flipped him off. She didn't tell me what exactly he told her but she was so nervous I didn't even care to dig into it..."**

Fabrizio opened his eyes wide and smiled, he was satisfied. Another clue, but on whose favor?

After thanking him and shutting the door behind him he turned to Niccolò who was, as usual, sitting on the desk. He had been observing everything to learn about that job and said: **"Have you recorded, Niccolò?"**

**"I've recorded everything, inspector! If you look at the bookshelf you'll notice I've put a camera on there too!"**

**"Well done, my boy!"** He said cheerfully before stopping for a second to look at him and then he exclaimed: **"You've put what on my bookshelf?"**

***

The guy sitting in front of him was the portray of quietness: he was looking at the room seraphic, fixing now and then his blond hair and moving his eyes from left to right, always with a pretty laid back attitude. I had never seen, in so many years of career, someone who was so at ease with an interrogatory. That disturbed him a little.

**"So you're Antonio de Maio, aren't you?"**

**"Yes, I am."** He said those words so quickly that it clashed so much with the calm appearance he had shown until then.

**"Well, when was the last time you saw Lucia?"**

**"Lucia and I didn't end things on the best terms and, even though I wanted to fix things, she kept ignoring me. Anyways, the last time we saw each other and spoke to each other was last month at the metro station in Via Condotti.”**

**"And why didn't things end well between you two?"**

**"I know I'm a little jealous, but Lucia didn't like this aspect of me at all so, after barely two months and tons of appreciate... I mean fights, we broke up..."**

**"Your accent.. you're not from here, aren't you?"**

**"Yep, I was born in Torre del Greco, a town not that far from Naples, but I've been living here for a long time."**

**"Can I ask you why did you move to Rome?"**

**"My father had inherited a small shop in Campo de Fiori and, back then he was unemployed so he seized the opportunity and we moved here. He's been running a small bar where I work as a waiter for almost ten years.”**

**"I guess last night around half past seven you were at the bar, am I right?"**

**"Yes, I was helping my father out. My shift usually ends at ten but it depends, sometimes dad makes me work past my usual shift or he sends me home earlier. You can ask whoever you want at the bar, around that time I was there."**

**"We'll make sure of that later. Now, could you tell me something about your relationship with Lucia?"**

**"When we got together, in June, everything was okay or at least, it was for me. After like two weeks she started, all of a sudden, to complain about the fact that I never left her alone and that I always controlled her..."**

**"Was that the truth?"**

**"Well.. maybe. She was everything to me and I didn't want anything to happen to her. She was still sad about the way her ex had treated her and the funny thing is that I had come to know that he, out of revenge, had done nothing but speak behind her back and that made her even sadder. Lucia was a great girl and I don't blame her for breaking up with me, we didn't really get along. I admit that I am a little possessive and she didn't like this, so it's all good. Even though I don't deny that I've tried everything to make her change her mind."**

**"Can you tell me something about your relationship with Vittoria Pane, Lucia's best friend?"**

On his seraphic face, there was now an amazed expression which Antonio hid almost immediately. **"Oh, Vittoria…"** he said almost as if he was lost in his own thoughts. **"We really didn't get along. She didn't really like me and I couldn't stand her either. Vittoria did absolutely nothing to be nice to me or to make me like her and she was also too... how can I say... involved? They told each other everything or at least that was what Vittoria did with Lucia. They spent hours on the phone and if I found her on the phone and asked her who she was talking to the answer was always 'Vittoria'. Lucia was a little more reserved though. However, Vittoria knows her very well and if Lucia ever complained to her about something I did she would call me, text me and once she even came to look for me to threaten me. When I complained to Lucia about that she told me to go f... away, she told me to go away."**

**"I understand, so you're still on bad terms..."**

**"Yes, but ever since Lucia and I broke up we haven't seen nor spoken to each other, not even by chance."**

**"Okay, stay in the area and try to be reachable at any time, please. I just want to remind you that you're one of the suspects and that there could be several things against you."**

He widened his eyes for a second, but then he became serious again and, while he was shaking Fabrizio’s hand, he said: **"I'll do anything you want, just find the bastard who did this to her."**

After one more glace, he left, leaving Fabrizio more confused than ever.

**"This guy is weird,"** He admitted, turning towards Niccolò. **"I smell lies, but I'm not sure."**

**"Ah, don't look at me!"** The agent raised his hands in the hair and violently shook his head. **"You told me that in these cases the only thing I can do is listen and learn, basically you told me I'm ignorant."**

Fabrizio smiled amused and muttered: **"Well done, boy."** Before going out of the office and screaming.

**"BERTI! Where the hell are you?"**

The noise of shoes anticipated its owner, who was wearing a pair of glasses.

**"Agent Berti on duty, sir!"**

**"Good, please relax, you're making me anxious..."**

**"Yes, sir!"**

**"No, seriously, calm the hell down. By the way, I need you. Please check if the alibi of the guys is real and bring with you Elisa Toffoli, she needs practice."**

**"Yes, sir!"**

After he'd gone away, Fabrizio spent almost an hour absorbed in his doubts, trying to find some clues or ideas that could have helped to solve the case. A missing girl, her best friend who talks about three guys, her longtime boyfriend who she's had a long relationship with, but was so full of anger, vulgarity and shallowness; her actual boyfriend who was timid, a little nerdy and scared; the problematic boyfriend who, as her friend told them, was particularly 'clingy' and looked almost like a stalker, but who had presented himself with almost unnatural calm, too composed to be real; violent fights and threatening messages; three guys who try to step on each other's feet and no witnesses...

His brain was going to explode.

***

**"Inspector, we checked the alibi of the three suspects!"**

Fabrizio almost fell from his chair because he hadn't realized there was a young girl with firm voice and black hair on the threshold...

**"Crispino and de Maio's alibi add up while Mattei's doesn't. At the bar none said anything about him, none has seen him entering nor leaving the bar."**

**"Good... indeed excellent! Thank you, Toffoli."** Fabrizio could breathe a sigh of relief, but it didn't last long. He didn't have much and an unconfirmed alibi, because the bar was crowded, was absolutely nothing. Unfortunately, those were only conjectures and not overwhelming shreds of evidence. He himself started to doubt about Mattei's guilt. Ha had doubts about de Maio as well though...

He fell on the chair, he was tired after all the interrogatories.

He had lost control, it didn't happen often yet that day inspector Rubini managed to make him flip. Of course, the suspects and Rubini had done everything in their power to wear him out. His patience had already been tested by the pressure that the case put on him. It had been almost inevitable to burst with anger and if it hadn't been for his tiredness inspector Rubini would have already gotten a black eye.

He rubbed his hands together lost in his thoughts, trying to connect the elements of the case: the three of them have a relationship with the victim, two of them have a probable motive and one of the two has a confirmed alibi. The only one left is her first boyfriend, who was still at the police station, detained in a standstill. At first glance, the solution of the case seems pretty easy, but unfortunately, it would be useless to accuse him without overwhelming evidence.

But he could still confess.

All of a sudden, his poor and tortured neurons had an epiphany: he wasn't sure the guy was guilty, but a second opinion would have helped him for sure.

He mentally thanked his obsession with his coworkers' past. He quickly went down the hallway which, from his office, led to the scientific laboratory. He was sure to find him there.

Indeed he wasn't wrong.

Ermal was busy examining god knows what under the microscope and didn't immediately notice the inspector had arrived. He realized only when he approached him and his nostrils were overwhelmed by the smell of white musk, smoke, and sweat.

**"Inspector! I haven't heard you coming in, do you need something?"** The younger one said without even turning towards him.

**"If I recall correctly, you're an expert when it comes to body language…"**

**"Yes, why are you asking?"** Now the attention of the doctor was completely focused on the man who was standing in front of him.

**"Do ya mind if I ask ya a favour?"**

**"Absolutely not!"**

Fabrizio briefly explained the doctor his doubts on de Maio and asked him if, going over the videotape of the interrogatory, he could elucidate him about a few feelings he's had.

**"My instinct is never wrong, but there's the life of a young girl at stake and we don't have time to squeeze out a boy until he confesses, especially if he's telling the truth."**

**"So you want me to confirm what your instinct is suggesting you?"** Ermal continued, sitting in the video room of the police station. He immediately recognized agent Moriconi who was going over some video clips while the inspector muttered something to the technician.

**"Please, doctor, come here."** The chestnut haired guy made him sit in front of a screen before sitting by his side. On the screen, there was the clip of de Maio's interrogatory. In fact, while he was in his office trying to put all the pieces together, he knew he'd underestimated that guy because he was still too blind from what had happened with Mattei and deputy Rubini.

They spent the following hour like that, going over and over the same clip, trying to seize every useful detail. Ermal had gotten a white sheet of paper and a pen and had started writing, minute by minute, what happened. He was stopping the video every second, something that had astonished Fabrizio.

After the umpteenth analysis of the clip, Ermal said: **"He's very good at concealing his emotions but, if you notice, during the first minutes of the interrogatory, he's looked at the window plenty of times as if he was looking for a way out. Moreover, he's blinking very quickly, he's anxious. His face isn't that steady either in fact when he's talking about Vittoria he widens his eyes first, totally taken aback, and then touches his mouth and looks at the upper right corner of the room. Maybe he was trying to make something up, he maybe wanted to make the girl look worse than she was as if he was trying to protect himself from what Vittoria could have told us. He's very smart… but he's not a statue. When he speaks about their break up he wiggles his eyebrows for a moment and presses his lips into a straight line. He's angry but he tries to hide it because he seems very calm as if he's satisfied with something. "**

**"Are you sure, doctor? This could be something very important for the investigation."**

**"I'm pretty sure this guy was very shy and nervous during the interrogatory, despite the appearances, as if he was hiding something..."** the younger one muttered, thoughtfully scratching his chin.

**"Inspector! Come here!"** Niccolò's voice triggered both men, who quickly came closer to the agent's stationing.

In front of their eyes, there was the clip of the back of a restaurant. There were Lucia and another figure, that was too dark to be identified, arguing. Then he took a napkin out of his pocket and violently pressed it on the girl's lips. Not long after, she fainted and he loaded her into a white van.

**"Unfortunately the license plate of the van is covered and we couldn't find out its direction, even though we've checked the cameras on the surrounding roads. Moreover, it's a common van, there are thousands of them in Rome..."**

Ermal brought a hand to his temples, lost in his own thoughts. **"I've got an idea!"**

A few minutes after, Fabrizio, who was sitting in his office, had finished dialing the number of the de Maio's bar. Looking at the doctor he asked: **"Are you sure this is going to work?"**

**"I’m positive! The guy's very self-confident, too much if you ask me. He doesn't have a criminal record and acted out of jealousy, almost out of rage. I don't think he was prepared to kidnap her..."**

**"Right."** He thoughtfully admitted, waiting for an answer.

**"Hello, you’ve reached bar Delle Ginestre, what can I do for you?"**

**"Hello, it's inspector Mobrici from the Trastevere police station. I'd like to ask Mr. de Maio some questions."**

**"It's me, what's wrong?"**

**"Do you, by any chance, have a Fiat white van? Yours or a rented one…"**

**"No, we don't have any vans, why?"**

**"It's important, does anything come to your mind?"**

**"No, really..."**

Fabrizio sorrowfully looked at Ermal who, standing next to him, had heard everything. The doctor then yelled: **"The relatives! Ask about the relatives!"**

The inspector widened his eyes and quickly asked: **"Not even your relatives or close friends?"**

**"Now that I think about it yes, my brother Luigi had one. He runs a bakery nearby and has a white van! Why are you asking me?"**

**"One last question, can you tell me where I can find your brother?"**

**"He's here at the bar with me, why?"**

**"Thank you very much, you've been very helpful!"** He victoriously hung up.

He left his office and yelled: **"BERTI! Call a certain Luigi de Maio, he runs a bakery in Campo dei Fiori. Ask him about a white van. Get me Antonio from the bar and bring him here!"**

***

**"Both of the suspects are here now... but how can I make them spill the beans?"**

Fabrizio paced back and forth in commissioner Domenicone's office. He had summoned him in order to be updated on what he had discovered.

**"It's one o' clock now, people usually eat at this time of the day and de Maio is working at the bar while Mattei has been here since this morning."** The commissioner said, lost in his thoughts.

**"What are you saying, commissioner?"**

**"That the kidnapper, because that's, in fact, a kidnapping, hasn't had time to bring food to his victim yet. According to the clips, it's useless to suppose there are accomplices so it's one of them who is taking care of everything. If we're lucky and one of these two guys is really the kidnapper then we can carry out this easy plan: we'll keep them in custody until tonight at around eight, then we release them both. It's probable that the first thing he will do is go where the girl is held to feed her, am I right? Moreover, during the afternoon, the more time passes the more he will start getting impatient to get out. "**

Fabrizio looked at him astonished: that man was a genius!

**"We could use the GPS or whatever the hell it's called…"**

**"Great idea, Fabrizio!"**

**"Nonsense, you had the idea, commissioner."**

The inspector left the office almost shocked and quickly started to organize the teams. Not very long after, Berti told him he had spoken to Luigi de Maio who had told him he hadn't lent the van to anyone. Something that was, indeed, not very believable.

A few hours later, at around half past seven, Fabrizio was in the hall of the police station with his team standing in front of him. The transceivers had been applied to both Antonio's moped and Vincenzo's car. Those things would have allowed them to follow the vehicles.

**"We've received the authorization from the magistrate, therefore, we can get started with our plan."** He announced, looking at his men one by one.

Fabrizio had to follow de Maio in one of the police cars while another car was supposed to follow Mattei. And maybe, if the odds were in their favor, they would have found Lucia.

**"Okay, each one of you knows what to do, we are allowed no mistakes. Make sure he doesn't notice he's being followed."**

With a gesture of his hand Fabrizio dismissed his agents and, in the hall of the police station, there we just him and doctor Meta.

**"Can you tell me again why I'm involved in this mission too?"** Ermal said, following him outside the building.

**"I need a doctor in case the girl is injured or worse... and also because you've been pretty useful during the investigation."** The inspector admitted, heading towards a shiny black motorcycle.

_There's something wrong,_ the guy though.

**"Inspector, your police car... where is it?"**

**"This is my police car."** Fabrizio said, gently petting the seat of his motorcycle.

**"Are you kidding me?"**

**"The GPS loses the signal after a few kilometers, this motorcycle will allow us to follow that motherfucker without letting him out of our sight. I'm driving so you, my dear doctor, are going to follow the signal on the phone."** After that being said the inspector put on his helmet and handed, an even more confused, Ermal another helmet and his phone.

**"Something is telling me it's too late to back out."**

**"You had to back out before meeting me, doctor. Now you're part of my team and you'll do as I say."** The chestnut haired guy joked.

While Ermal was finally putting his helmet on, the GPS was activated and the two of them saw the suspect. He quickly headed towards his moped, started the engine and drove through the streets of Rome. Ermal saddled up and placed his left hand on the handle behind the saddle.

**"Hold on to me, doctor."** Fabrizio said and started the engine. Ermal jumped, taken aback, and wrapped his arms around the inspector's waist. His open hand was pressed against his abdomen.

They immediately started to follow the guy. Behind them, there was a police car who, from the start, had problems with the traffic of the capital.

The guy made everything he could to avoid the main roads and Ermal had to hold on to Fabrizio a little tighter not to fall.

After what seemed like an infinite amount of time spent chasing the suspect across Rome, they found themselves in the country just outside the city. The police car was far away from them, lost through the traffic jam and slow traffic lights. In order to not be discovered, they were a few steps behind, following him from afar. They saw the guy slowing down and stopping near a semi-abandoned home, next to a white van, that white van. Fabrizio stopped all of a sudden, hiding behind a home situated, a hundred meters before, along the road. The rapidly got off the motorcycle, the inspector opened the saddle and took out the walkie-talkie to find out how far was the police car and to update them on their location. He then took out his gun and loaded it.

**"Well, now we wait for a while. They're very far, it could take them twenty minutes, no less."**

**"Twenty minutes? We can't wait that long! Every minute is precious to save her life."**

**"But it's just the two of us and we only have one gun, do you really want to do this alone? It's not my first time, but I guess…"**

**"Let's go, we have to save her. Whatever it takes."**

His eyes leaked confidence and that amazed him but at the meantime scared him. He was a civilian and he was involving him in an armed raid... it could have ended very badly, but he would have thought about it later because the doctor had already left.

They silently walked towards the desert street, they were almost tiptoeing and when they got to the door Fabrizio muttered: **"Is this your first time in.. 'action'? It could be dangerous."**

Ermal wasn't even listening to him, he was too busy turning the doorknob.

**"It's open."** He admitted, turning towards him with his eyes filled with excitement.

_Oh my god, what the hell am I doing?_

**"Keep it down, he must not hear us. We must take him by surprise."** The inspector sighed, getting ready to enter.

The door creaked but they managed to enter without any further noise. They found each other in what once used to be a kitchen but the only things that remained of it was a ruined table and a small old fridge. On the table, there were some almost empty plastic containers while, behind the second door of the room, there was a dim light. They were in there.

**"Come on, eat! You can't starve yourself..."** They heard a male voice from behind the door, followed by some grunts of protest. Ermal came a little closer to it and nodded to Fabrizio to get in once he had opened it. So he opened the door and the inspector entered, with his gun in plain sight, yelling: **"Police! Stop whatever you're doing!"**

The room was tiny and there was mold on the walls, a light was hanging from the ceiling and lit very dimly the room. There were only a closet and a bed. On the latter there was the girl, wearing only her underwear. She was sitting and was obviously under the effect of something, maybe morphine. Her hands were tied behind her back and fastened to the bed. Antonio was standing next to her and let the container full of food fall on the ground. With a sudden movement, he reached the other door of the room and locked it behind himself, avoiding a couple of bullets.

Ermal ran to Lucia without thinking twice about it. She was scared and crawled on the bed but, despite the obvious confusion and a bruise on her arm, she seemed fine.

Fabrizio, on the other hand, started to follow the guy. He went through the door and found himself into a third room which was totally empty if it wasn't for an exit which led to the back of the house.

He followed the exit and after a few seconds he was hit on the hands by a wooden board and his gun fell.

The fight between the two of them started that way.

Ermal was scared by the noises he heard coming from outside so he decided to check, leaving the girl with his coat, which was as big as a blanket, on her shoulders. Once he got outside he found Fabrizio on the ground, Antonio was straddling him and had his hands around his throat. He looked furious. Without a second thought he held the gun, which had fallen just on the threshold, and pointed it at the guy. **"Stop!"** He yelled. **"Or I'll put a bullet in your head!"**

Antonio immediately paralyzed, giving Fabrizio enough time to punch him in the jaw, making him fall to the ground.

He looked upwards and his eyes met with Ermal's. He was holding the gun improperly, his hands were shaking and his hair was covering his eyes a little.

**"You saved my life."** He muttered between one caught and another before, slowly, taking the gun from his hands. **"Thank you..."**

***

**"Hey mum, how are you?... did the kids do their homework? ... yes, yes I'll be back soon, let me just organize the paperwork at work and I'll be back... bye, ma' bye."**

Ermal listened to the conversation the inspector, who was by his side, was having on the phone. He was also staring at the girl in her hospital room, finally free from her torturer's claws. She was sitting on the bed in the arms of her parents, who could finally have their beloved daughter back after the angst they felt in those days.

Ermal saw every gesture of affection between the three of them and smiled when the girl turned towards him, still wearing his coat, with her eyes filled with gratitude. At that moment he felt great, he had obviously gotten attached to that kid's story.

It was one of his biggest flaws: he got too attached, even to those bodies he had to examine, he didn't see them as objects to analyze, but he saw them as human beings and respected them.

His teacher during his internship always told him:

_< Being too emotional is not suitable for an inspector, let alone for us doctors, Meta.>_ He could almost hear his voice in his head.

**"So, doctor, I'm heading back home. Well done, I don't know what I would have done without you…"** The inspector said, touching him on the shoulder before smiling tiredly.

**"Thank you, inspector... do you really think you're heading home with that wound?"** Small asked, he was baffled because only then he had noticed the bad cut on his eyebrow.

**"It's nothing, doctor. It's just a little cut!"**

**"No way! You are coming with me so I can get you all stitched up, am I clear?!"** The younger one ordered with a firm voice, staring at him in the eyes.

Before that gaze, Fabrizio could do nothing but obey. Thus was he found himself in an unused room of the hospital, sitting on a bed. A few moments after, the doctor came back with everything he needed.

**"Don't move, it won't take long."** he said to reassure him, noticing the expression on the inspector's face when he noticed the needle and the stitching wire sitting on a metal plate.

Ermal started cleaning the wound, trying not to press the tampon too hard. He noticed, though, that the inspector was growing more and more impatient every second that went by.

He laughed internally at the thought that a man like  inspector Mobrici could be scared of a small needle.

**"Are you, by any chance, afraid of needles, inspector?"** He couldn't help but say that sentence.

**"I'm hypochondriacal and it doesn't help to think about the fact that you may have to stitch me up like an old shoe."** Fabrizio admitted, his eyes were fixed on him to register his every move.

**"It isn't a deep cut so I won't have to stitch you up, all that blood was just an act."** He muttered, giving him a crooked smile.

**"Just a small bandage and you'll be fine."**

Fabrizio seemed to relax after he heard those words and, while the doctor applied the bandage on the cut, he couldn't help but study his features.

It was the first time he had him so close to himself and his eyes didn't miss the chance to notice every tiny detail: he immediately noticed the almost nonexistent piercing on the eyebrow, the defined curls that fell on his forehead, his perfectly symmetrical nose which was completely appropriate on his oval-shaped face, the dark bags under his brown eyes and his thin lips which were tense in that moment of focus.

Once again in that same day, Fabrizio found himself lingering too much on the figure in front of him. It was pretty obvious that they were studying each other, calculating the right distances between them and the best way to make two people, apparently so different from each other, fit.

**"There it is, inspector! You're a new man now."** Ermal announced proudly, picking up what was left to put it in the right place.

Fabrizio escorted him along the hallway in absolute silence until it was the doctor who broke it. **"The doctors have confirmed that she has been sexually assaulted. They're waiting for the lab results to see if she was under the effect of drugs to keep her sedated."**

**"I'll make sure this miserable stays in jail for a long time. Awful..."** He commented angrily.

Fabrizio clenched his fists.

He needed to smoke. He quickly rummaged through the pockets of his leather jacket where he found the lighter and his beloved cigarette.

**"Do you want to smoke with me, doctor?"** he asked politely. He put the cigarette behind his right ear.

Ermal looked at him and touched the pockets of his jeans to make sure he had everything he needed to roll one.

Luckily he had taken the tobacco out of his coat just in time.

**"Gladly!"** He said, quickly pulling out a filter before following the chestnut-haired guy outside the building.


	4. L'inizio

Night fell gently on the streets of Rome, hugging every corner of the eternal city with the right atmosphere. In that vortex of lights and nightlife, inspector Mobrici was looking at the view just outside the hospital with a cigarette between his lips to keep him company.

After such a day it was the only thing that could really calm him down. He breathed in, tilted his head back and then breathed the smoke out, enjoy the feeling that action gave him. That girl’s case had taken up all his day and had given him a strong headache. At least Lucia was safe and sound between the arms of her parents and the guilty party had been brought to justice. He could come back home with the certainty that he had done his job in the best way possible and with another scar to embellish his body. He instinctively touched his eyebrow, tracing the bandaid with his fingers. He was already imagining his children’s reaction when they’d have seen it: Anita would have kissed him all over his face to ‘make the boo go away’ while Libero would have looked at him from afar before starting to mock him and then leave a bandaid on his nightstand in secret. That thought made him smile instinctively and he was already feeling the warmth of his children’s hugs, it felt like a warm blanket in the wintry cold nights.

However, he was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn’t realized that doctor Meta was standing right beside him with a freshly rolled cigarette between his lips. He was whispering something while he was scratching the back of his head with his right hand, embellished with a skull ring which he hadn’t noticed before.

 

 **“Sorry, could you repeat?”** Fabrizio said falling from the peaceful cloud he was laying on.

 **“As I was saying, inspector, do you have a lighter? I forgot mine..”** The man repeated, huffily pointing at his still unlighted cigarette.

He hated repeating himself.

The inspector looked for it in the pockets of his leather jacket and once he found it, he quickly handed it to him before continuing to smoke. They stood like that for a few seconds: silently leaning on the wall, with little clouds of smoke to surround them.

Ermal, deeply breathed in and then, with his eyes shut, very slowly breathed out the smoke enjoying the scent that was teasing his nostrils. Just like that, between one drag and another, he started studying the man standing next to him paying a little more attention.

He noticed they were almost the same height, but the inspector was much stronger than him. He noticed the knuckles of his right hand, they were a little scratched because he had punched De Maio. His investigation went upwards, he noticed the strong line of his jaw which was embellished by a stubble. He went higher and noticed his messy, chestnut hair. When his gaze wandered a bit lower, he met Fabrizio’s. Ermal looked away, embarrassed, but noticed that Fabrizio was giggling because of that awkward exchange of looks and was clumsily covering his face with his free hand.

 _Funny._ Ermal thought. _A big man like him acting all embarrassed._

 **“Look, doctor, I was thinking…”** The chestnut-haired guy started after a few minutes spent in complete silence before putting the cigarette out.

 **“If you’re thinking about the awful battle scar, the wound is going to leave, you can relax, thanks to me your pretty face will remain spotless.”** The doctor himself was surprised he was joking with a man who was much like a stranger to him.

He usually wasn’t so outgoing, his jokes were strictly reserved for his friends, yet it had been easy to do that with him.

Too easy.

That sentence was left hanging between them for a few seconds before the laughter of the inspector filled the void.

He wasn’t expecting that at all just like Ermal wasn’t expecting a bright smile to appear on his face after it had been so serious just a few minutes earlier.

**“No, I was thinking that it’s useless to keep things so formal between us, don’t you agree? In the end, we will be working together for a while and I think it’s useless. No more inspector, just call me Fabbbbrizio.”**

_How many ‘b’s did he put in his name?_

The younger one thought about that sentence for a moment, as if he was carefully weighing every word the inspector had pronounced.

After what seemed like a lot of time to Fabrizio, Ermal turned around to face him and with great surprise handed him his hand, saying:

**“I agree, Fabrizio.”**

The man immediately shook his hand feeling the warmth of the hand and the coldness of his ring.

**“I’m glad, Ermal.”**

And during that mid-October evening, two kindred souls found themselves making small talk, leaning on the wall of the hospital while the world around them kept spinning. The two of them talked for a long time as if once they had removed that layer of formality there was between them all their differences had been resolved.

Those had been just differences of opinions between two people who had been forced to work together after they’d spent a long time working alone.

It was understandable, it was natural the chestnut-haired guy thought.

He couldn’t explain what was happening between them, it was a weird kinship and chemistry, it was something that he had never felt with anyone until that moment. They both had a lot of experience and maybe that was what contributed to creating that affinity.

 **“I wasn’t expecting such a cool doctor, you seemed so obnoxious the other day.”** The older one found himself confessing.

 **“You weren’t that nice either, Fabrì.”** Here it was, another crack in his armor.

A nickname, he had just used a nickname.

It couldn’t be real.

Fabrizio was amazed by how good his name sounded, once it had been shortened if it was pronounced by the younger one’s voice.

It sounded musical, particular. However, he couldn’t help but notice that the person standing in front of him was a bit uncomfortable.

He instantly wondered if he’d done something wrong…

He hadn’t even started thinking about it when the phone rang and brought him back to reality.

It was his mother…

 **“Where the hell are you?”** She yelled on the other side of the phone. **“I’ve been waiting for you for an hour. You told me you were coming back! The children wanted to wish you a good night!”**

**“Yes, mà, I’m sorry. I’ve been held…”**

**“Okay, don’t be late.”** She annoyingly said before hanging up, leaving his son looking at a black display.

That call was like a pin bursting a bubble: the bubble of unusual quiet that had created between them.

**“I think I should go..”**

**“Wait, Fabrì!”** The younger one said and the other froze on the spot. **“We should exchange numbers! I work a lot during the night and I’d like to be able to tell you about it if I find something out.”** He explained.

Without saying a word, Fabrizio gave him his phone so he could save his number in it.

After that quick exchange, Fabrizio, facing down, quickly said goodbye to him and headed over to his house to fulfill his fatherly duties. But before going he turned around and smiled at Ermal before saying:

**“See ya tomorrow, doc!”**

**“See you tomorrow, Fabrì.”**

***

Without even realizing it, he found himself completely caught up in his job. Even though he didn’t enjoy it very much at least it would have been a distraction.

To Ermal, and the others of the forensic team, it had been particularly hard to find out the identity of the body they found the week before on the shores of the river Tevere. It was already decomposing, completely naked and the cause of death had probably been choking.

After the case of the Pontecorvo, the girl had been closed, the doctor could focus only on the identification of the body. So he spent the following three days closed in his tiny office together with his assistants, comparing the information about all the people that had disappeared in the last months to those they learned after they had studied the body. When he was about to lose hope, he found something: a spot, a burn under the right shoulder. They had found it only thanks to the analysis. A burn that Ermal had already seen somewhere else.

**“The man they found on the shores of the Tevere was the killer’s first victim!”**

Fabrizio thought that barging in his office unannounced was the favorite hobby of the whole police station. He looked at Ermal, who was standing on the threshold, he was labored and had his hand still on the doorknob.

One day they’re going to detach it, I know it.

 **“Wait, what?”** It had all been so sudden that he hadn’t fully understood what was going on.

 **“The case you entrusted Mobricioni with. The body on the shores of the Tevere, we have evidence showing that he’s the killer’s first victim, look!”** And after saying that he handed him the picture of the burn.

 **“Could you please explain the situation a little better? It was not a case of mine but this changes everything.”** Fabrizio asked he was mesmerized while he examined the not-very-clear picture.

**“So, according to the investigation done before my arrival, the body was hidden between a trunk and litter in a very hot and damp area not far from the dump site. However, unfortunately, this caused an even premature decomposition of the tissues…”**

**“Erma’, please speak easily. What does it mean?”**

**“It means that the body decomposed quicker than usual and that made the identification and the analysis even harder. However, I think we’ve come to a solution. Could you call in the Lucio Paolo Massa’s wife to identify the body? I think it’s him, he was an accountant.”**

**“If you’re sure then I’ll do it ASAP. Rather, tell me something more like when he disappeared, when he was killed and how, tell me everything.”**

Ermal, who had already prepared everything, raised a sheet of paper he’d brought with him together with the pictures and started reading: **“The accountant disappeared suddenly two weeks ago. The wife reported the disappearance two days after it had happened but the case had been put aside because the person who did this had also withdrawn a lot of money from Mr. Massa’s bank account…”**

**“They thought he ran away.”**

**“Exactly, also because his wife, as she herself said, is not going through a good time so it had been easy to suppose he had intentionally left her. The first autopsy, performed by my colleague, showed that the cause of death was strangulation performed with a white sheet which has then been left around his neck. The next autopsy showed three stab wounds: one in the chest, one in the back and one in the stomach.”** He concluded before handing the inspector all the pictures and the report.

 **“Thank you, doc. You’ve done a wonderful job.”** Fabrizio said before smiling to him.

_Ermal, you’re a grown-up, you can’t afford to blush like that._

**“So, I’ll get back to the lab.”** He muttered without even looking at him in the eyes and heading towards the door.

 **“Wait,”** Fabrizio said, getting up from the chair. **“It’s late and you’ve been working nonstop for too long. Go home, if I have a problem I’ll call you.”**

**“Every hour of the day, Fabrì.”**

Here it was again, that childish nickname, the nickname everyone of his friends used. Said by that velvety voice and that accent sounded different…

 **“Goodnight, then. Even though it’s eight.”** The previous velvety voice said, interrupting the flow of his thoughts. He looked at him in the eyes, they were tired but grateful.

 **“Goodnight, doc. Try not to think too much that you look like a ghost…”** He said and heard him laughing behind the door that had shut behind his back.

_Fabrì, you have dignity, you can’t look at it… your colleagues’ goods like that._

***

The deafening sound of the song ‘Back in Black’ by AC/DC filled the tiny room of the roman B&B. A body moved from under the covers of the king-size bed, swearing half in Italian and half in Albanian. Ermal nervously got up, the day before he had managed to fall asleep at a decent time, and read the name of the genius who had called him at that time of the day: Fabrizio Mobrici.

 **“Hello…?”** the doctor answered, he was still asleep and his voice perfectly showed it.

**“Oh, Ermal, get up quickly. This morning they found another body.”**

It took him more time than usual to process that information and, with a not-very-convincing voice, he muttered: **“Okay… are you going to pick me up or should I come to the police station on my own?”** And, he was desperately hoping for the first option to be the one. He checked his clock:

5:40

The sun wasn’t even up yet.

_Okay, I like getting up early, but we’ve got a problem here._

**“Come on, be quick. Niccolò and I are waiting for you. Doc, be quick or I’ll come up and I’ll solve it myself.”** The inspector laughed and then hung up.

That call confused Ermal for a few seconds but then he decided to get up and look outside his window, the one that faced the street.

There they were: the inspector and agent Moriconi. They were leaning on the police car and were noticeably cold.

It didn’t take him long to get ready, in fact, in just a few minutes he found himself at the entrance of the building. Fabrizio was looking at him and was kinda amused.

 **“Goodmorning, doc. Come on, both of you get in the car. We have a lot to do today.”** Fabrizio said, looking at the sleepy and exhausted expressions on both men’s faces.

 **“Come on, Nicolino, wake up. That’s what you get for clubbing during the week…”** Ermal noticed Niccolò’s gaze and realized he’d hit a soft spot. The boy turned as red as bell peppers and settled himself on the passenger seat.

He noticed that the collar of his uniform was a little wrinkled which showed that the boy had gotten dressed pretty quickly. He also noticed a few unmistakable marks on his neck that kept company to the hickey he had on his neck a few mornings before.

 **“Don’t you think it’s a bit cruel to tease him like that? He and his girlfriend came home late last night. Cut him some slack, will you?”** Ermal muttered with a grin. He wasn’t expecting Fabrizio’s reaction at all.

 **“A girlfriend?! Nicolino?! Nicolì, why did you do that? You have a girlfriend and I have to know about her from a doctor?!”** Fabrizio scolded him, starting the engine of the police car and stepping on the gas.

Niccolò managed to turn, if possible, even redder and looked upwards hoping to get a blessing.

The car ride was accompanied by the inspector’s questions on poor agent Moriconi’s private life. The boy tried with all his strength to avoid the subject and answer very vaguely. Before that little scene, Ermal couldn’t help but smile, despite their srìtink eye, they were funny.

Anyway, he hadn’t noticed that the inspector was spuing on from the rearview mirror and was calmly smiling.

Fabrizio was impressed with the doctor’s expression on his face, but he couldn’t say why. With all the smiles he had seen on the doctor’s face, he was impressed by that one in particular.

In the meantime, the city around them was slowly coming back to life with the lazy dawn light that lightly heated the streets that surrounded them and the few commuters that were running towards the metro station.

Ermal tried to imprint all those images in his head. He was already in love with Rome and he had only seen it for five days.

Gradually, and after many kilometers, the city became a residential neighborhood on the sea with its terraced houses painted in white. The wide stretch of blue reminded him of his home country. The wind was strong and the sea was rough, full of white foam which will have been taken away by the cold wind from the north.

The car stopped in the garden of one of the houses that were under construction. That brought both men back to reality.

The inspector was the first one to get out of the car and got closer to the crowd that had gathered around the crime scene. Lying on the ground, surrounded by the other authorities and covered by a white sheet, there was the lifeless body of the victim.

 **“Goodmorning, I’m inspector Mobrici. Tell me everything about it.”** Fabrizio announced himself to the colleagues and with the tail of his eye, he noticed doctor Meta’s very hair by his side.

 **“I’m inspector Franchi, good morning. The victim is Mario Beati Renga, 63 years old, a bank director. He was found this morning by his neighbors. It looks like he’s been stabbed and then buried by those beams over there to make it look like an accident. I know this area is out of your jurisdiction, but…”** The inspector started and, raised the white sheet to show them a twin-pan balance burned on the victim’s right side. **“I think this is your case, inspector.”**

The two men looked at each other, there was a mix of rage and concern on their faces.

Rage because the killer had struck again.

Concern because it looked like he was going to strike again.

Inspector Franchi left them alone after saying goodbye. They were finally free to examine the body. Ermal immediately examined the stab wounds and the mark on the side, sadly realizing that it wasn’t an emulator’s doing.

It was him.

 **“Nicolì, get a camera and start taking pictures of the victim and the area,”** Fabrizio commanded and agent Moriconi quickly carried everything out.

 **“What can you tell me so far, Ermal?”** The chestnut haired guy muttered, getting closer to the doctor.

 **“He might have been killed around midnight and one in the morning. The wounds were inflicted with the same blade as the other and there’s also the usual note…”** He said, taking a small plastic bag that a man was holding for him. Inside the bag, there was a note.

 **“We found it inside the pocket of the coat.”** He explained before going away.

Ermal started reading it out loud:

**_«Maestro mio, or mi dimostra_ **

**_che gente è questa, e se tutti fuor cherci_ **

**_questi chercuti a la sinistra nostra»._ **

**_Ed elli a me: «Tutti quanti fuor guerci_ **

**_sì de la mente in la vita primaia,_ **

**_che con misura nullo spendio ferci._ **

**_Assai la voce lor chiaro l'abbaia,_ **

**_quando vegnono a' due punti del cerchio_ **

**_dove colpa contraria li dispaia._ **

**_Questi fuor cherci, che non han coperchio_ **

**_piloso al capo, e papi e cardinali,_ **

**_in cui usa avarizia il suo soperchio»._ ** **_*_ **

 

Niccolò came back with a camera and quietly started to take pictures. The sound of the flash went on throughout the examination of the body.

 **“The garden has video surveillance, we could see if we find something on the videos…”** Fabrizio said, looking around.

 **“Hoping they got something. About the victim, there’s no doubt that the cause of death is the three stab wounds, but we will have to run more tests to be sure.”** After that, the doctor got up and called the forensic man to have more information.

**“Should we?”**

**“Sure! From now on you’ll be assisting me during the autopsies… if it doesn’t bother you.”** The curly haired guy said ironically, with a grin on his face.

Fabrizio was shocked by the doctor’s statement, but he couldn’t help but answer to that grin with another expression.

 **“You really wanna get beaten, today?”** Fabrizio answered back, earning a shrug from the doctor.

The three of them kept examining the body and collecting the few pieces of evidence there were on the crime scene.

This time as well the killer hadn’t left evidence.

With the sun now completely upon those terraced houses, the police car from Trastevere whizzed towards the police station.

In the meantime, the sea had finally calmed down.

***

Their return to the police station was accompanied by a wonderful surprise for Inspector Mobrici.

Once he had set foot inside his office, he found a man dressed in a very fancy suit. His skin was tanned and his long, sleek black hair was tied in a man bun.

 **“Look who’s here, Andrea!”** Fabrizio shouted before hugging the man who was standing right in front of him.

Andrea Ra:

He has been his friend ever since he had set foot in the police station when he was just an agent who was angry with the whole world.

He was a lawyer at the police station and also one of his closest friends.

**“You look like shit, Fabrì. What the hell have you been up to?”**

**“Don’t mention it, I’ve been dealing with a difficult case. Tell me something about you, Andrè, how was the honeymoon?”** The lawyer looked at him in the eyes and the chestnut-haired guy knew the answer to his question.

He had seen that look on his friend’s face just a few times, since hiding his emotions was a very important part of his job and he was good at it. It was the look of someone who’s utterly in love and devoted to the person who had stolen his heart.

He was the one who had introduced him to Roberto ‘the Sheriff’, his husband.

Theirs was love at first sight and Fabrizio had done everything in his power to set them up. The day of their wedding he was the proudest and at the same time most excited person there, even more than Roberto’s Junoesque mother.

He felt like that because what they had was the depiction of two soul mates who had met each other and had done everything in their power to be together.

Deep down in his soul, he wished he would meet someone who made him feel like that.

 **“It was great. We came back only for you, Fabrizietto.”** The lawyer joked before pinching his cheek.

 **“So… I’ve heard we have new blood at the police station… a nice doctor...”** Andrea started. He sat on agent Moriconi’s desk and dramatically crossed his legs.

**“Yes, he came here to help us with this serial killer.”**

Andrea was staring at him, trying to capture every detail. Fabrizio rolled his eyes now used to his friend’s manners.

He already knew what he was looking for. Ever since he had broken up with Giada, Andrea had had one goal. He was on a mission to find him, someone whether it was a woman or a man it didn’t matter to him.

The arrival of a new addition to the team, someone who worked closely to him as doctor Meta did, was a juicy opportunity for the lawyer.

**“Andrè, don’t even think about it… we’re colleagues, don’t you dare to meddle!”**

**“Why, Fabrì, are you already jealous?”** Andrea joked, earning the middle finger as an answer.

In that exact moment, very well-timed, Ermal came into the office without knocking.

 **“Fabrì, we must get to the lab, the body is… oh! I didn’t know you were busy.”** The color said as soon as he opened the door, freezing right after he saw the two men.

The lawyer’s eyes scanned him from head to toes.

 **“You must be the famous doctor Ermal Meta. Nice to meet you, I’m Andrea Ra. I’m a lawyer at the police station.”** The man said quickly, interrupting Fabrizio who was about to say something.

Erma nodded and warmly introduced himself to the lawyer, unaware of the look the other man was giving him.

Fabrizio wanted to die in that precise moment. He instantly tried to help the doctor, motivate to avoid leaving him with his friend one second more than needed.

 **“Ermal, get going, I’ll be there in a minute. I’ll just say goodbye to this fucker.”** He said, smiling at the doctor and giving Andrea a dirty look.

The chestnut haired man looked at that little show and felt a little dazed, but he left the office without a word.

The inspector perfectly noticed the way the lawyer looked at the doctor’s ass on his way out of the door.

 **“Stop it, Andrè! You’re a married man now.”** Fabrizio scolded him, elbowing him in his side.

**“I’m working for you, Fabrì and I can say I 110% approve… At least physically-“**

**“Andrè…”**

**“Andrè, my ass! You can’t let him slip away! This doc looks like an angel with those curls… For your sake, I hope he’s no angel in bed too…”** Fabrizio nervously touched his hair. He was extremely embarrassed by where that conversation was heading to.

 **“OKAY, that’s it! Say one more thing about Ermal and I’ll slap you so hard I’ll send you back to Milan. Now get out that I have to go to the lab.”** Fabrizio said, opening the door for him.

**“Aah, you’re already confident with each other! Interesting…”**

**“Andrè give it a rest!”** The inspector yelled and was completely red.

It’s not normal that I’m embarrassing myself like a little girl at 43!  Fabrizio thought, heading towards the lab.

He stopped just outside the door, trying to catch his breath and calm down. Andrea was able to do that.

He opened the door looking extremely calm and relaxed. He noticed doctor Meta, he was standing in the hallway and was talking to a colleague, his white lab coat was covering his thin body. He looked good in a lab coat, he had to admit that. Their eyes met for a second and Ermal quickly reached him after dismissing his speaker.

 **“Well, you’ve come. Come on, we have an autopsy to perform.”** The doctor said, guiding him towards one of the rooms at the and of the hallway which was filled with various instruments and computers.  He had been in there many times, but it felt like the first one. He could notice a different detail every time he went there.

Without even realizing, he found himself in front of the lifeless body of the banker, which separated him from the doctor.

The man in front of him was looking at him to make sure he was ready to proceed and after he nodded, he looked at his assistant and started:

**“As we can see there are no evident signs of a fight, therefore, the victim did not struggle.”**

**“Is it possible that he was drugged and then killed?”** Fabrizio asked while Ermal was gently tilting the body’s head.

He noticed that his pupils had dilated.

 **“The tox screen I required is not needed anymore… Look at this.”** The doctor said, lifting the victim’s head. On the base of the neck, there was a wound that was now covered in dried blood.

He had been knocked out and then killed.

The doctor gently cleaned the wound and started to examine it thoroughly.

**“It seems that the victim was hit with something like an iron pipe… It could still be on the crime scene.”**

**“I’ll send a couple of agents to check the area. Do you have something else to tell me about the victim?”**

The doctor looked at him in the eyes and shook his head slowly, his curls started to move.

 **“As in the previous murders, the killer has left no trace on the bodies except for the stab wounds and the mark. Ah, by the way, the mark has been burned into the victim’s skin after he died so that he wouldn’t scream.”** The younger one finished. His assistant’s pen didn’t stop writing.

The autopsy didn’t go on for long in fact, after a few minutes doctor Meta covered the banker’s body with a white sheet.

 **“What do you think about all this?”** the dark haired guy said since they were alone.

 **“I think our man knows very well the modus operandi of the old killer as if he’d been his disciple. However, he’s more precise than he was, almost surgical. Luckily for us, he doesn’t leave anything to chance.”** Ermal said, resting his hands on his hips and tilting his head down.

Analyzing every little detail of a body was hard and it was even if that body didn’t show even the smallest trace or fingerprint that could help them. He felt like the serial killer was observing them and was laughing at them. Ermal’s thoughts could not hide from Fabrizio. He completely understood him because he was feeling just like him. He felt powerless and just like a puppet. Unlike the doctor, though, he was not going to lose heart. Being discouraged and insufficiently responsive were now part of his past. He got closer to the guy in order to comfort him, just like people do with a stray cat on a rainy day. His hand was left hanging in the hair as if an invisible wall had stopped it.

The wall was there indeed. It was the kind of wall everyone builds around oneself and the inspector could perfectly feel it surrounding the doctor.

The first time he had seen the younger doctor he had immediately understood that, although he was younger than him, he was carrying a burden on his shoulders that was just as heavy as his. Or even heavier. Right from the start, he had felt the barrier between him and the world. Fabrizio had felt undecided whether it was appropriate to surpass it and extend his hand towards those curls.

His hand moved on his own and softly rested on the back of his head. His fingers were immediately welcomed by the softness of his chestnut hair. Ermal suddenly lifted his head and, almost as if that contact had burned him, took a step back fixing his lab coat.

Fabrizio looked at him and awkwardly scratched the back of his neck: he had crossed a boundary he shouldn’t have crossed. As usual, he always managed to do the wrong thing.

 **“Emh… I have some paperwork to do.. if you need me I’ll be in my office.”** He said, almost muttering before rushing out of that room. He softly apologized, hoping the other man didn’t hear him.

The doctor had heard him indeed. He didn’t even know why he had moved away so quickly, he could have at least explained why. But he had preferred to act as if that hand tangled between his curls wasn’t inspector Mobirici’s, but a more familiar one that brought him back to his motherland.

That hand brought back memories he thought he had buried years ago. Obviously, he hadn’t. He felt guilty for the way he acted, that man hadn’t done anything wrong and deserved an explanation.

With those thoughts he walked into his tiny office, an old book was sitting on the desk. It was an old edition of the Divina Commedia he had bought at a flea market in Bari. He had brought it to brush up on the subject and maybe follow the logic behind the murders. He caressed the purple cover and sighed.

He had to make it up to him.

***

Inspector Mobrici’s office door remained closed for the whole day. Inside the room, Fabrizio was trying to occupy his mind with reports and forms about the investigation. Niccolò had been sent to the crime scene in order to look for an iron pipe or something like that that could be used as a weapon.

None could bother him yet someone knocked on his door when the sun was slowly lowering on the houses.

 **“Come in.”** He said firmly without even looking at who it was.

With his gaze fixed on the papers he had on his desk, Fabrizio noticed a couple of bags on it and a familiar smell invaded his nostrils.

Food.

He raised his head and his dark eyes were captured by the much lighter ones of doctor Meta, who was standing in front of him.

 **“About this morning… I didn’t want to act that way… I just wasn’t expecting something like that. I’m not used to physical contact.”** Ermal said, calmly looking at him in the eyes.

Stop looking at me! It’s already embarrassing I’m standing here saying those things to you!

For a couple of minutes, none talked, the only thing they could hear were the noises of the police station.

**“… you don’t have to apologize, I should be the one to..”**

**“Let’s not think about it anymore, okay? Let’s eat, I haven’t eaten anything since this morning so..”** Ermal interrupted him and he started to pull things out of the bags for the both of them. Fabrizio started to clear up the desk in order to make room for the good food they were about to eat.

The dined in silence, both of them were happy with each other’s company and they were happy they had sorted that little misunderstanding out.

Sorting things out with him had been easy, Ermal thought. He wasn’t used to that being so simple, not anymore.

He started to remember the way he fought with Silvia, but Ermal banished them from his mind. That wasn’t the right time to think about it, he couldn’t even compare the situations.

Or could he?

Despite the fact that he had known Fabrizio for less than a week, it was clear that there was a weird connection between them. It felt like they could understand each other. To Ermal, it was like looking at a mirror and be surprised by the person he saw.

 **“If every time we argue you come to my office with all this food you’re going to make me fat.”** The inspector said all of a sudden, trying to make the atmosphere lighter.

That sentence did exactly that, in fact, the younger one immediately came back to reality.

 **“Don’t get used to it… I’m not your caregiver.”** As sweet as vinegar, Fabrizio thought.

 **“Did you say, caregiver, because I’m older than you are?”** He asked that and received a shrug in response.

**“I’ve also brought you the tox screen, guess what? The victim is clear.”**

**“Just like the security footage. He took all of them.”** The inspector said, biting a leaf of salad.

 **“We must shed some light on the cases… wait for me here.”** Ermal ordered all of a sudden, quickly leaving the office. He came back not long after and put a book that was older than the Colosseum on Niccolo’s desk.

 **“What’s this?!”** Fabrizio asked, looking at it.

 **“An old edition of the Divina Commedia, I knew it could be useful.”** The inspector noticed a couple of bookmarks coming out of the book. They had different colors. The doctor carefully lifted the second one and showed Fabrizio a passage from the book.

The Limbo.

**“This area welcomes every baby that died before being baptized. Obviously, this is connected to the Fabi case: the baby girl.”**

While the doctor was talking about the connections between the canto and the dead girl, Fabrizio cleaned the desk and picked up all the material connected to the killer. He took the girl’s picture from the file and carefully placed it on the desk.

 **“She drowned. Her parents had decided not to baptize her…”** Ermal realized how painful it was to the inspector to see a baby killed in such a cruel way.

**“If you want we can move on to the others…”**

**“No, no, I can do it.”** Moro said firmly, continuing to describe the other reports the police had on the first murder. The evening passed and they spent it examining all the canti of the Divina Commedia while associating them with the victims, hoping to find something.

It was late when they finished the mosaic of pictures on the desk.

**“To sum things up: our killer is obsessed with the Divina Commedia so he kills people that fit into the circles of the inferno. Every single security footage is useless and the killer likes to play with you because sent his master to prison, am I right?”**

**“Exactly.”** He sighed. **“I’d really like to know if they met and how much they have in common. We must find a connection, something that may let us understand what he intends to do next… wait!”** Ermal took the picture of the body he had dealt with a couple of days earlier, which they hadn’t put in the mosaic yet. **“He’s the first one!”** He said.

Fabrizio was evidently confused so he explained: **“Before the Limbo, there are the slothful. They are tortured buy bugs and forced to chase a white flag…”**

 **“Just like the one they found on the body.”** Fabrizio said, looking at his notes.

**“That was his first planned murder and it didn’t go exactly as he had planned. Despite all that he had positioned the bodies on the shores of the Tevere, just like the Acheronte river, it was brilliant. That's why he is killing more rapidly and violently: he doesn’t want to be ignored, he wants us to know why he’s doing what he is doing and what…”**

**“He’s a psycho.”**

**“Yes.”**

They both looked at the desk that was now full of pictures and a wave of awareness crashed into them.

That was only the beginning.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *“Master,” I sad, “what people can these be?  
> And all those tonsured ones there on our left –  
> Is it possible they all were of the clergy?”  
> And he: “In the first life beneath the sun  
> They were so skewed and squinteyed in their minds  
> Their misering or extravagance mocked all reason.  
> The voice of each clamours its own excess  
> When lust meets lust at the two points of the circle  
> Where opposite guilts meet in their wretchedness.  
> These tonsured wraiths of greed were priests indeed,  
> And popes and cardinals, for it is in these  
> The weed of avarice sows its rankest seed.”


	5. La stella più fragile dell'universo

That morning it was too cold, according to commissioner Domenicone’s likings, despite the fact that is was only the 9th of October. He got to the police station very early, he fondly said hello to Berti who, obviously, was always the last one to go home and the first one to arrive in the morning. After that, in order to chat a little, he asked: **“Did something interesting happen while I was away?”**

**“No, commissioner, except for the fact that, apparently, inspector Mobrici didn’t go home and stayed in his office the whole night.”**

**“What? Are you serious?”**

**“Yes, his motorcycle is in the exact same spot as when I left. Moreover, the saddle is wet because at around three o’clock tonight it rained and if he had...”**

**“Okay, thank you. You only needed to say yes, you know that?”**

_How the hell can he be so clear headed this early in the morning?_

**“I’m sorry, commissioner…”**

**“Don’t worry, it’s okay. Now, since you’re so active, handle last night’s robberies.”**

The sooner he got away from that sort of human-robot, the better it would have been for his poor, sleepy neurons.

He got closer to the inspector’s office door and opened it gently, but it creaked a little. What he saw as soon as he opened it really softened it. Fabrizio had fallen asleep in his chair with his arms crossed on his chest and his head tilted. He was muttering something in his sleep. In front of him, asleep on a big, dusty book there was the coroner. He had a relaxed expression on his face, just like someone who’s dreaming of something beautiful.

He tiptoed closer to them and noticed another detail:  on the doctor’s shoulders there was Fabrizio’s favorite leather jacket. He wore it 362 days a year. He had never lent it to anyone, despite the fact that he was one of the most generous men he had ever know. And now, it had been used as a blanket.

He had seen him lend his precious guitar, his motorcycle, all his clothing items and even his uniform to his nephew for a costume party, but he had never lent that jacket to anyone, he was morbidly attached to it.

He smiled and slowly went back to the threshold of the room before clearing his throat and saying, with a rather loud voice: **“Good morning, Fabrizio! How is the investigation going so far?”**

He enjoyed the sight of a startled inspector who almost fell over his chair and a sleepy doctor who woke up and, not very elegantly, dried off the drool from his cheek.

 **“Good morning, doc.”** Fabrizio muttered. **“Regular as clockwork…”**

Domenicone burst out laughing and exclaimed: **“Go get a coffee, you’ve done enough.”** And with that being said he left the room laughing, shutting the door closed on his way out.

_Again!_

**“Yes, yes, very funny.”** The officer growled between his teeth a few moments after. He then moved his gaze to the man who was standing in front of him and… he didn’t know whether to soften or start laughing.

In front of him, there was the most beautiful and cute image he had ever seen: Ermal was looking at him, he was still confused and his hair was scattered in all directions, his right cheek was red and there was the mark of his fingers on it. His eyes were puffy and red from the lack of sleep, his gaze looked wrecked while he was hugging himself in the jacket.

 **“Good morning, Erma’ ”** He couldn’t help but smile.

**“Yes, good morning…”**

**“What about coffee? I don’t think you could start the day without it.”**

**“Yes, coffee…”**

After about ten minutes the two of them sat in a bar which was situated not very far from the police station.  A waitress was patiently waiting for them to order.

 **“So, I’ll get an orange juice and…?”** Fabrizio was curiously looking at Ermal, waiting for an answer.

**“I’ll get an espresso and a double coffee, thanks.”**

The lady didn’t hear that twice and ran away without giving the inspector enough time to argue.

**“Thank you Erma’, but I can’t drink coffee, especially in the morning. I’ll call the lady and…”**

**“Look, the coffee is for me!”**

After the initial confusion, Fabrizio tried to make small talks, but the doctor kept answering coldly and that discouraged him.

 **“Here you are.”** The waitress came to the table, randomly put the glasses and the cups on the table and almost ran away. What followed left Fabrizio pretty upset: Ermal took the cup of espresso and, as if it were the most normal thing in the world, poured its content in the cup of his double coffee which was bigger and therefore able to contain more liquid.

He then saw him raising it before drinking it. It was such a big amount of caffeine, it could have instantly killed an elephant.

**“What the fu…?”**

**“I’m sorry about earlier, but if I don’t drink this much coffee I won’t be able to start the day properly. When I’m home I drink almost three whole mokas.”** He said and smiled for the first time that day.

 **“Ah, well, if you say so, doctor.”** Fabrizio winked at him, not entirely sure, and after a smile, he drank his orange juice.

_Ermal! You can’t blush like that!_

***

The sun was finally up and it had warmed the air, making it less biting. Niccolò finally managed to enjoy his first and only (he was trying to quit smoking) cigarette of the day.

The dark smoke cloud started to arise, they were as dark as his dark circles, and he sighed tiredly. How the hell did he manage to do that every night, he thought? He did that three nights a week and looked like shit for the rest of the month. He didn’t understand it so he kept smoking.

**“Didn’t you say you were trying to quit?”**

A naughty voice said, startling him so much that his cigarette fell on the ground.

_Speaking of the devil…_

**“What the hell?! You cannot jump out of nowhere so early in the morning!”**

He laughed and then snorted. **“You’re so touchy, I was just joking! Besides, it’s a pity it fell on the ground, I could have finished it…”** he said, picking it up only to throw it away.

**“I don't’ understand you. You smoke much more than I do but you always tell me off!”**

**“You know I need it. You also know it’s bad for you so I help you not to do that.”**

Niccolò was always amazed by how sweet his heart was despite the fact that he had been through a lot. He let his dark eyes mirror into the clear ones of the person that was standing in front of him, who was trying to hide how much truth there was in those few words.

The young agent knew that behind that icy gaze, the light but perfect makeup, the elegant earrings, and the perfect skin there was a broken soul that, for that reason, had decided to stand by him that night. Unlike the others.

Yeah, that night…

 

[BEGINNING OF THE FLASHBACK]

It was summer, the Capital was hot and sticky even at night and it was only the 10th of July. His friends told him about that night club as a joke… then why was he standing in front of its main entrance?

The rainbow flag was attached to the neon sign and it was waving: Purple, that was the name of the club. Many and different kinds of couples surrounded him as he entered and, once he stepped in, loud music and heat hit him.

More than anything,  he was impressed by the sinuous figure that was dancing on the stage in the center of the crowded club. That person was dancing as if it were the embodiment of music.

That person, whose gender he couldn’t identify yet, was wearing what from afar seemed to be a mini skirt. Suddenly, what to him still looked like a shadow was lit by a spotlight and he couldn’t believe his eyes.

Never had he seen something so beautiful, sensual and harmonious. Ever.

Without even realizing it, he had made his way through the crowd and found himself in front of him. He looked upwards and was, once again, left breathless. A pair of white leather boots with a short and narrow heel was making his long and pale legs look almost endless. He let his glance wander all over his perfect body, beyond the ridiculously short, white and glittery skirt that let people’s imagination run wild to the kinkiest images until his eyes met a pair of icy ones the lights made look a little darker.

His heart missed a beat and maybe even a couple more while a mischevious smile appeared on that angelic face which was shining thanks to the many glitters he had in the corner of his eyes and lips. That’s how Niccolò pictured a tempting angle to be, situated outside heaven’s door to test whether or not people deserved to be there. With that tiny skirt, the silver glitters, and those beautiful feather earrings. An angel.

Or maybe a demon?

He didn’t know, the only thing he managed to focus on was the song: were they really playing ‘Like a Virgin’ by Madonna? He couldn’t believe it.

The angel started moving around in a more sensual way than he did before, he grabbed the pole and lift himself onto it, leaving very little to the imagination… he did all that without looking away from him, not even for a slight second.

Niccolò got completely lost in the rush of his own thoughts and came back to reality only after the music had stopped for a few seconds. After a couple of seconds, the dancer’s crop top and skirt were ripped out, showing the naked and sensual body of his own tempting demon.

His eyes lingered on his flexed chest, emphasized by two shiny stars on his nipples, his sculpted abdomen was flexed and muscular, his hips were narrow and his hipbones stuck out a little.

He was only wearing a white thong with the word ‘virgin’ written... well... there.

The crowd that surrounded him was exulting, people were clapping their hands and someone even started throwing bills on stage while the dancer climbed on the pole almost effortless. The song was about to end and the demon got off the pole once again with an agile jump.

After one last lust-filled glance he turned his back to him and started walking along the runway. Once he had made it to the end of the stage, the lights started to dim and left him looking almost like a shadow to the eyes of the spectators, he tore off his thong and let it fall on the ground as soon as the last note played.

As soon as he disappeared behind the curtains, the lights started to turn on again.

**“What a wonderful audience we have tonight! I’m sure our little Irama will be super happy to know you enjoy the show, sweethearts.”**

A drag queen said as soon as she got on stage. She was at least two meters tall, Niccolò thought as he saw her walking on those super high heels she had paired with an emerald green dress and a feathery blond wig. With her dark skin tone and the excellent makeup skills she obviously had, she reminded him of a drag queen he had seen on tv somewhere… he couldn’t remember her name though…

Suddenly his brain froze: _Irama?_ He thought. _It must have been the name of the dancer! It couldn’t be otherwise!_

His body moved before he could even finish his thought. He started to look around to find the entrance of the backstage area or directly him.

After a few butts squeezes and a couple of dance invitations, he found himself on the hot street with his head in his hands, walking in a circle like a fucking cartoon.

_What the hell am I thinking about? Why the hell am I here?! How can someone like me even think about talking to someone like HIM!_

As luck would have it, his eyes lingered on the alley next to the main entrance. In the back, leaned on the wall there was a guy who was wearing only a pair of leather boxers and suspenders and what looked like a girl (thanks to that club he had learned that nothing is what it seems).

After five minutes which he tried to convince himself in, he found the courage to get closer and mutter an awkward: **“Is this the entrance to the dressing rooms?”**

The girl answered: **“You guessed right, honey. Are you looking for someone?”**

In his head, the young agent erased the word ‘girl’ and replaced it with ‘trans’, probably.

**“Emm… yes… is Irama there?”**

A laugh from the girl made him jump. **“Of course he’s here!”** she said between laughter. **“He stays late all nights, what could you possibly want from him?”** she asked, changing her tone and becoming more serious. **“Do you want to sell him something?”**

Before the agent could express all his resentment, the other guy who hadn’t spoken a word until then, muttered something before throwing away his cigarette. **“I’ll call him, stay here.”**

She followed him too, disappearing behind the curtain that covered the access, leaving him alone in the dark alley.

In that weird mix of smoke and perfume the dressing rooms were, there were all kinds of people and between all them, sitting on a chair to fix his makeup, there was a guy who was talking to the others about how many men were drooling over him while he was performing.

 **“Hey, Ir.”** The dancer called him. **“There’s a guy…”**

 **“Shut up! Forget about that loser.”** She whispered, elbowing him in the stomach to make him stop and then, facing Irama, said: **“Don’t worry dear, it’s no big deal.”**

 **“Wait, let me hear what Miguel has to say.”** He said to the young man who was now totally lost in the situation.

**“Well, there’s a guy outside who’s asking about you…”**

**“Does he have chestnut hair and an unbuttoned white shirt?”** he asked, slightly widening his eyes.

**“Yes, why?”**

He didn’t even finish his sentence before his interlocutor had left, leaving everybody shocked.

**“Hi, gorgeous, did you ask my friends about me?”**

Niccolò was about to fall when he found a pair of icy eyes in front of him, still covered in a cloud of glitter and a wonderful smile.

 **“H-hi, Irama.”** He couldn’t swallow and his heart was beating faster than ever. **“Yes, sorry… I’m Nicoli- Niccolò, my name is Niccolò… nice to meet you.”** He timidly extended his sweaty and shaky hand for him to shake.

The guy laughed: **“Irama? Don’t call me that, my name is Filippo.”**

Unfortunately, that last word was whispered into his ear, after he had pulled him on his body. The only thing Niccolò managed to understand from the situation was the wonderful and strong perfume, almost wild, that hit him. Exactly, it was wild.

 **“What do you say we go somewhere calmer? There’s too much noise here!”** he continued, complaining, but not really.

_Agent Moriconi. Exe has stopped working_

They found themselves in front of the agent’s light blue Panda. After the said agent had muttered something about the car, the dancer violently pushed him against the car door and, after he had trapped him under his own body, started kissing him very passionately.

 **“I’ve wanted to do this ever since I saw you standing there with those eyes…”** he whispered between a kiss and another, without even giving him time to breathe.

_Wow, Nic, your first real kiss with a man, wow…. I’m gonna cry_

While the neurons of the poor agent were too busy trying to make out the situation, Filippo pulled out his car key from his pocket and even managed to open the car door without even parting from his prey. He pulled the agent on top of him and after he had looked at him with a glance full of lust, he pushed him onto the car seats.

**“What the hell?”**

**“Shut up and enjoy the show.”**

Lucky for him, his 2006 Panda had enough room and the roof was high enough to accommodate both of them. Niccolò was lying down with his legs bent while Filippo was sitting on his lap, bent over him with all his weight.

They kept kissing while the dancer’s experienced hands held the paralyzed and sweaty ones of his partner and put them on his hips before whispering something to his ear: **“I can’t do everything by myself…”**

But, when he realized that the hands had remained on his hips, shaky and sweaty, he parted a bit from the other man’s lips which had become his favorite ones, just enough to look at him. What he saw surprised him very much: Niccolò’s eyes were red and watery, it looked like he was about to cry, his cheeks were red and his parted lips were still puffy, his hair was messy and his shirt was completely open and showed a hickey he didn’t remember giving him. He was a total mess.

Surprisingly, that scene softened him.

**“Hey, gorgeous, what about we continue another time? Like… tomorrow?”**

**“Y-yes.”** He whispered, desperately needing air. **“Tomorrow.”**

With his eyes still widened, Niccolò looked at that damn demon that seemed to have sucked all his strength out of him (and also his will to live) elegantly climbing off of him and stepping out of the hot Panda before fixing his black t-shirt.

Looking at him like that, with his eyes still veiled with excitement, really struck him. Under the dim lights of the lampposts of that empty parking lot, the glitters he had scattered all over his body almost made him shine, that almost illegally tight t-shirt and those indecent shorts made him look wonderful.

**“See ya tomorrow, then! I’m counting on it, I’d get mad if you stood me up…”**

**“No, no, I’m gonna be there, I swear.”**

**“Good, you’d better be there.”** And after one last mischevious wink, he left with his usual grace, his feathery earrings moved in the subtle breeze that had been torturing the Capital ever since the beginning of summer.

Once he was alone, sweaty and panting on the back seats of his Panda, which were now covered in glitter, with a note on which there were a name and a phone number, he couldn’t help but realize that he had never been so happy.

[END OF THE FLASHBACK]

 

 

Several months had passed since that night and there hadn't been a day they hadn’t seen each other, talked to each other or thought about each other.  They had become each other safety and it didn’t matter if they were sinking, everything was okay.

The man’s fingers snapped in front of the agent’s nose, waking him up from the memories.

 **“Did you, by any chance, fall asleep? Are you okay?”** The man asked him. Seeing him like that worried him. As an answer, the other guy hugged him and kissed him on the lips.

 **“Now I am.”** Niccolò answered before hugging him again and kissing him once more.

***

The day passed by pretty calmly at the police station. The pale morning sun hidden behind the clouds soon left and the few stars that were visible, thanks to the light of the lampposts of the Capital, started shining. Fabrizio hadn’t even realized that the light in his office had changed, but Niccolò reminded him that it was time to go home. The inspector slowly massaged his eyelids with one hand while he tried to find his glasses with the other.

The constant chatter of the police station rocked him for a few seconds, giving him the time he needed to archive all the information he had acquired during that long day of investigation. It hadn’t been a very busy day: half of his team was dealing with some robberies in a neighborhood while the other half was trying to find relevant clues for the dantesque killer case. However, it wasn’t easy, the killer perfectly knew how to make every trace disappear. The man stood up from his chair, nervously scratching his head. He didn’t have to think about that at that moment, he needed to take a shower and to relax. Fabrizio was thinking about that while he collected his stuff from the office before quickly heading out of the police station. He was already wearing his helmet when someone shouted his name.

 **“Andrè, please, I’ve been working all day long. Whatever it is, can it wait till tomorrow?”** As an answer, the lawyer rolled his eyes.

 **“Did you forget that tonight we’re supposed to go to Claudio’s to have a beer together?”** That sentence had the power to make him freeze on the spot. Ha had completely forgotten about it.

Apparently, my chill evening had to wait, he whispered.

 **“I’m sorry, Andrè, I’ve been very busy lately… Look, I’ll go take a shower and I’ll be there.”** The man standing in front of him looked at him from head to toe.

 **“Don’t spend too much time primping. You’re hopeless, anyway.”** He said and the man flipped him off. Fabrizio looked at the lawyer’s figure heading to the underground parking lot of the police station when another figure caught his attention. It was Doctor Meta, busy in what looked like a very long and tiring phone call. He waited for it to finish before he started to move closer.

 **“Not a very nice phone call, doc?”** The chestnut-haired guy almost jumped when he saw him standing by his side.

**“It’s nothing, don’t worry. I’m gonna head back to the hotel, do you have something to tell me? Any news on the case?”**

**“Actually…”** the inspector started, fixing his scattered hair. **“I was wondering, would you like to have a drink with me and the boys?”**

The doctor seemed pretty flattered by that offer. **“I don’t know… I think I have some reports to write…”** he said, uncertain and only at that moment the man noticed the files the doctor had with him.

 **“Look, Ermal, we've been working non-stop since last night. A chill night will do you good… I’ll text you the address and the time, come if you want to spend a nice night in our company. If you don’t want to it’s fine too.”** Fabrizio muttered and immediately sent him the address and the time. He didn’t want to force him to come, but he looked tired and he had seen that he hadn’t allowed himself to rest yet. He couldn’t keep doing this, even the strongest person in the world would have crushed at that rhythm. He couldn’t allow that, he needed him for the investigation.

The doctor smiled at him as a thank you and after saying **“I’ll think about it…”** he started walking towards the hotel where he was staying.

Fabrizio got on his motorcycle and, on the road back home, he hoped to see the doctor that night.

His hopes hadn’t been crushed because, a few hours later, right in front of the pub, Fabrizio saw Ermal leaning on a lamppost.

 **“So you came.”** He whispered behind his back, making him startle for the second time that day.

 **“Do you like giving me heart attacks or you don’t even realize you do it?”** the chestnut-haired boy joked, crushing the cigarette which had fallen on the ground.

 **“It’s you who get scared about nothing.”** The man defended himself, opening the door of the pub for him before inviting him to enter first.

The ‘Dal Maestro’ was an institution in that neighborhood. It was a nice and welcoming pub, it had wooden and modern furniture. On the walls, there were hung musical instruments, vinyl and plenty of pictures of the many customers that spent the evenings there. Fabrizio immediately introduced him to Claudio, the owner of the pub and a huge friend of his. The man gave him a solid handshake and a sweet smile. The introductions continued. Ermal had the chance to meet lawyer Ra’s husband, Roberto or as they all called him, ‘The Sheriff’. The doctor also noticed that Roberto had Fabrizio’s horrid taste in hair. Next to the sweet couple, there were two agents that worked in the inspector’s team: Alessandro, a young guy with long hair and Danilo, who in the meantime was reading the menu and trying to decide what to eat. Ermal sat next to Fabrizio, evidently nervous. He wasn’t really good at meeting people and he was worried he wouldn't fit into the group that, as he could clearly see, was very close and harmonious. The evening went on pretty calmly, the atmosphere was pretty cheerful, especially after the third pint of beer.

The alcohol helped the doctor to set all his worries aside and start being more merry and comfortable. Fabrizio, more than once, looked at him joking with Danilo or asking Andrea and Alessandro how they managed to have such long hair. He tried to impress every single one of his smiles in his memory and he realized that his lough really sounded like the best of music.

 **“You’re hopeless, Fabbrì.”** Andrea’s voice shook him from his thoughts.

**“What do you mean?”**

**“If you don’t stop daydreaming about the doc I’ll crush your had with the tankard. You’re embarrassing.”** Andrea got a little more aggressive once he drank something alcoholic. At least towards him.

 **“I’m not daydreaming about anyone…”** The inspector tried to defend himself, but he accepted the advice his friend gave him and stopped staring at him. In the meantime, the pub had emptied and in no time, there was none left but them. At that moment, they were all sat around the table surrounded by empty plates and tankards, talking about nothing and everything at the same time. Only after a while, Ermal realized that Fabrizio wasn’t sitting next to him anymore because he was sitting in front of them and was taking one of the guitars hanging on the wall. What the doctor didn’t know was that those group night ended in a particular way: someone of the group would always sing something. Lucky for him, that night was Fabrizio’s turn. He was captured by the gentleness he used to tune the guitar and started to look at him. He was captured by the soft and gentle way he was playing a beat without singing yet. He would have given everything to listen to him singing. At some point, Claudio had joined them at the table, Fabrizio had stopped playing just to start with another song.

Ermal knew it very well. He looked at his focused face, the inspector’s eyes were closed while his hands were strumming the cords. Without even realizing it, he had started singing and Fabrizio’s dark eyes immediately looked at him.

_Talk to me softly_

_There’s something in your eyes_

The man’s hands didn’t stop playing, he kept strumming and now was even encouraged by the doctor’s soft voice.

_Don’t you cry tonight_

_I still love you baby_

A few moments after, the inspector started to sing too. His voice was much lower and raspier. It was perfect for that song. Their voices together were so different but they managed to fill each other where needed.

_And don’t you cry tonight_

_There’s a heaven above you baby_

_And don’t you cry_

_Don’t you cry_

The show kept going in complete silence and during the last verses their voices were almost like whispers.

Their eyes had never separated from each other.

They didn’t even notice the applause they were receiving nor the compliments. At that moment, it was like everything else didn’t matter and Moro was terrified. He immediately lowered his gaze and Ermal noticed him blushing. It was a weird and completely new feeling for him and the inspector preferred to distance himself and regain composure. His eyes immediately moved to his friend Andrea and the expression the lawyer gave him was unmistakable. Ermal’s head was spinning. What had just happened was like a bolt from the blue, something so unexpected it almost felt unreal. The doctor shook his head and went to the bathroom to splash some water on his face.

 **“Okay, Fabbrì, now you’re going to tell me the truth and nothing but the truth.”** Andrea started as soon as the chestnut-haired guy went to the bathroom.

 **“Nothing, I wasn’t expecting him to be so good at singing and I got emotional.”** The inspector said, trying to defend himself while all his friends were looking at him as if he had bunny ears.

 **“Sure, but Fab, the show you’ve just put on was… wow and those looks, oh!”** Alessandro said with his usual sincerity. While everyone was commenting on the show they had just witnessed and started asking him questions, to which he tried to answer very vaguely, Ermal had gotten back from the bathroom, sat on the table and started looking at them one by one. He was expecting them to question him too (and he was ready for everything), but he only got an awkward silence, as if nothing had happened. Something did happen, though. The night ended there and the group decided to leave the pub and talk a little on the street, waiting for the owner to close up.

 **“I didn’t know you were so good at singing…”** Fabrizio said, handing him a cigarette.

 **“I could say the same about you, your voice is beautiful.”** The doctor answered sincerely. His bluntness made him blush again.

That behavior surprised him again. The conversation ended there and they stayed there, smoking next to each other in silence. Their elbows barely touched. Once Ermal had finished his cigarette, he excused himself and called it a night, heading back to his motel. He was confused. He had felt something while he was singing with Fabrizio and his glance fixed on him had burned him like a flame. He thought about it on his way to his room and even the night between the shits of his bet, but he couldn't find an explanation for it.

That night he didn’t manage to sleep, at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we conclude the first part of our fanfic  
> Yellow and Blue thank all of you that read, comment and put a kudos on our fic <3  
> We have to tell you that unfortunately, you have to wait a little longer before reading the next chapters because we are in the exam's period. We make all the possible to not make this period without chapter longer, believe in us.  
> See you soon  
> Yellow and Blue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there,  
> We're just two girls with way too much free time to think about serious stuff sooo, we decided to write this.  
> We came up with the idea after we saw a tumblr post about a crime!AU so, thanks to whoever you are for writing that post and giving us the idea.  
> We'll try to publish regularly every two weeks and we'll try not to make a mess.  
> Love,  
> YellowAndBlue


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